Tell Us: What’s your take on the foreign policy debate?

Tell Us:
Did you get a chance to watch the first Presidential debate
on foreign policy Friday night? If you didn’t, get up to speed with these
recommended resources:

  1. Quotes on key foreign policy issues, including Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia/Georgia, and energy independence (BBC News)
  2. Watch the debate in full (BBC News)
  3. Written transcript of the debate (LA Times Blog)

What did you think of the focus on foreign policy relative
to other issues, like domestic economic policy (Of course, as new developments
in the European and Asian stock markets following last week’s bailout of
leading U.S. financial and insurance institutions reveal, U.S. economic
dynamics have great influence on the global economy and can hardly be
approached from a purely “domestic” perspective.)? Is there any specific topic
or world region you wished the candidates had addressed that they did not?

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Continue reading “Tell Us: What’s your take on the foreign policy debate?”

No Geography Left Behind?

Guest Blogger Chris Shearer examines the state of federal support for Geography education.

You
may be wondering to yourself, “If the world is becoming
flat, or post-American, or potentially close to collapse,
how is it that Geography–THE subject in school that
addresses these issues so well–is given such short shrift?” Okay, maybe you
weren’t wondering this but I, as a card-carrying geography education advocate,
was wondering it for you.

Well,
here’s one possible answer: federal policy.

Continue reading “No Geography Left Behind?”

Are Americans hostile to global knowledge? Part 2

Americans’ alleged hostility to global knowledge continues to attract media attention following last week’s NYTimes.com feature of Susan Jacoby’s book, The Age of American Unreason. In a recent spot on the Today Show, Matt Lauer interviewed the author. Jacoby offered insight into the phenomena of anti-intellectualism and geographic illiteracy, again citing the National Geographic-Roper Poll. An entertaining, yet disturbing, intro to the segment featured what … Continue reading Are Americans hostile to global knowledge? Part 2

Tell Us: Are Americans hostile to global knowledge?

The New York Times online provoked a spirited debate yesterday with the question: Are American’s hostile to knowledge? Nearly 1000 weighed in on the comment board, which accompanied an article describing Susan Jacoby’s new book: The Age of American Unreason. Jacoby decries what she describes as an American culture of widespread ignorance and anti-intellectualism, citing the alarming results of the 2006 National Geographic-Roper Survey of … Continue reading Tell Us: Are Americans hostile to global knowledge?

“U.S. Population Makes Its Way to 300 Million”

This week the population of the United States officially hits 300 million—a staggering number, but not the highest in the world. In fact, the U.S. is third, behind China and India. But what does the milestone mean? From MSNBC: “People in the United States are consuming more than ever — more food, more energy, more natural resources. Open spaces are shrinking and traffic in many … Continue reading “U.S. Population Makes Its Way to 300 Million”