Summary
Join us for a “re-exploration” of regions, those mental constructs that shape how students learn about their world. Can regions be constructed to be more accurate, fair, and useful? Regionalization, and the relationships between power and space, are an important part of AP Human Geography and other geography courses. Geographers have long questioned the regional frameworks typically used in world regional geography courses (and other social studies courses) in middle-school, high school, APHG, and college offerings. This topic is especially significant now as a new political regime in the United States realigns allegiances and trading partnerships to create new regions (or to rename established regions). Gerrymandering, for example, is a form of regionalization. Teaching students to “make” regions themselves may assist in understanding the dynamics that go Into that process. Just as some communities of color or indigenous peoples engage in “counter-mapping” – creating maps that challenge dominant power structures – we suggest students should be able to engage in their own “counter-regionalization.”
Session Focus
All Grade Levels | World/International| Regionalization, Counter-Regionalization, World Regions
Conference Room
Clark
Meet the Presenter
Sarah Bednarz and Mark Bockenhauer
