Teaching the Geography of Food

By Seth Dixon, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Geography, Rhode Island College  Food. It’s something we all think about, talk about, and need. Food has been one major topic of interest at National Geographic because it connects all of us to our environment. The recent global population projections for the year 2100 just went up from 9 billion to 11 billion, making the issues of food production and … Continue reading Teaching the Geography of Food

Teaching Cultural Empathy: Stereotypes, World Views and Cultural Difference

By Seth Dixon, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Geography, Rhode Island College “Whatever you can rightly say about India, the opposite is also true.” —Amartya Sen I am torn about how to teach these two ideas about cultures and societies all around the world: People and cultures are different all over the world. People and cultures are the same all over the world. These points may … Continue reading Teaching Cultural Empathy: Stereotypes, World Views and Cultural Difference

Finding and Using Spatial Data Sources

By Seth Dixon, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Geography, Rhode Island College Data is great, but working with numbers can be intimidating. We have more data than ever before that is available to us, and graphs, charts, and spreadsheets are ways that data can be shared. If that data has a spatial element to it, the best way to visualize a large dataset might just be a map. … Continue reading Finding and Using Spatial Data Sources

Enabling Globalization: The Container

By Seth Dixon, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Geography, Rhode Island College When you think of technology and globalization, does your tablet or smartphone come to mind?   While smartphones and tablets play a part in reshaping global economics and culture, the backbone of the modern global economy is actually something that goes unseen by most people, despite its size. In fact, this thing is so ordinary that we fail understand … Continue reading Enabling Globalization: The Container

For the Love of Maps

By Seth Dixon, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Geography, Rhode Island College I have a confession to make; I’m a map geek. Even as a kid watching Raiders of the Lost Ark, I was fascinated by the map they used to segue between scenes to show Indiana Jones’ travels. Forget the one I mean? Watch the clip below. The spatial information stored in that single image heightened the level … Continue reading For the Love of Maps