Exploring the Complex Geography of the Balkans
2025-10-18 14:45 - 15:15 (America/Chicago) | Conference Room: Iowa
Summary
This lecture will present the findings of two geographers who recently conducted field research in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina in preparation for leading professional development in the region. The presentation will provide a foundation for deeper exploration and future engagement with the Balkans, a region shaped by a rich and complex history of intersectional geography that remains largely unfamiliar to many U.S. educators. Belgrade and Novi Sad are the home of the Church of Saint Sava and Petrovaradin Fortress, sometimes called Gibraltar on the Danube. Each community provides insight as to the role of religion, politics, trade, and commerce, both today and in the past. An important region during both World Wars, the rise of nationalism served as a catalyst to the breakup, or Balkanization, of Yugoslavia in 1991. Prior, Sarajevo hosted the 1984 Winter Olympics, aimed at projecting a positive image of the region after the death of President Josip Broz Tito who had led the Communist Party
Session Focus
Secondary/High School | Government and Civics | Balkans, Exploration, Professional Development
Conference Room
Iowa
Meet the Presenter
Dr. Michael Allen is an Associate Professor of Geography at Towson University. He previously served as a co-coordinator of the Virginia Geographic Alliance and Geography Program Director at Old Dominion University. For more than a decade, Dr. Allen has worked with formal and informal K-16 educators to promote geographic understanding and climate literacy. Since 2019, Michael has coordinated the Chesapeake Bay Climate Institute, a multi-day experiential professional development program that uses the Chesapeake Bay watershed as a place of learning, culminating with a field experience on Tangier Island. In 2023, Allen worked at the University of Novi Sad, Serbia as a U.S. Fulbright Scholar, improving cross-cultural climate literacy. Exploring the Balkans, Allen reflects on his experience and highlights future professional development opportunities to explore both the human and environmental landscapes of the region. His local and international experience integrates cultural competence, geospatial technology, scientific understanding, and critical thinking into pedagogical approaches. A physical scientist, Michael has extensive experience working across academic disciplines to bridge mutual understanding between social and natural sciences.

Opportunities in Non-Formal Education to Enhance Girls’ Motivation Toward Learning Geography, Geospatial Technologies, and Related Careers
2025-10-18 14:45 - 15:15 (America/Chicago) | Conference Room: Winnebago
Summary
Join Lisa Elikan, NCGE 2025 Salvatore J. Natoli Dissertation Award recipient as she shares her dissertation that was conducted under the Department of Geography, Texas State University, San Marcos Texas, USA
Session Focus
All Grade Levels
Conference Room
Winnebago
Meet the Presenter
Lisa Elikan is an independent scholar and non-formal geography educator. Her research interests include geography education, non-formal learning in STEM and geography, motivational learning theories, and geospatial technologies in education.

Mapping the African American Green Book
2025-10-18 15:30 - 16:15 (America/Chicago) | Conference Room: Flannigan
Summary
The erasure of minority stories makes challenging the dominant reading of history important. The Green Book was an annual travel guide used by African American travelers from the 1930s to the mid-1960s to navigate a racially segregated America. A group of 9th graders, social studies teachers, and college students mapped Omaha’s 30 Green Book sites using ArcGIS and created Story Maps and a Hub Page to share the history uncovered on each one. This experience lit a spark with diverse summer school students and created an engaging hands-on curriculum for Nebraska’s social studies classrooms. The work will also educate thousands of Nebraskans through a 2025 joint exhibit with The Durham Museum, Great Plains Black History Museum, and Smithsonian. View the project at https://www.ops.org/Page/6677
Session Focus
Secondary/High School | U.S. History | History, Mapping, Research
Conference Room
Flannigan
Meet the Presenters
Kristine Gerber is a passionate storyteller and historian who brings Omaha’s rich past to life. A graduate of the University of Nebraska at Kearney with degrees in Journalism and Public Relations, she began uncovering the city’s hidden stories in 1999 while working at the Omaha World-Herald. There, she discovered the most powerful way to explore history—by listening to the everyday people who lived it. Those interviews led to the publication of Omaha: Times Remembered, and launched a publishing journey that has resulted in more than 50 books celebrating Omaha and Nebraska history. Today, Kristine shares her love of local history and architecture with secondary students and social studies teachers through Omaha Public Schools’ Making Invisible Histories Visible program, inspiring the next generation to connect with the places and stories that shaped their community
Cory Johnson

The geography of the Holocaust: Topics, geographical concepts, methods, and representation
2025-10-18 15:30 - 16:15 (America/Chicago) | Conference Room: Lewis
Summary
In this presentation, I will explore how geographic principles enhance Holocaust education, emphasizing spatial thinking, geographic inquiry, and geospatial technologies. Drawing from professional development courses and curricula, I will highlight three key themes: the varying scales of the Holocaust, the geographies of camps and ghettos, and the spatial ideologies behind Nazi policies. Maps, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and visual tools will be essential for examining these topics. I will discuss the Holocaust within its geographic and historical contexts, illustrating how geography frames the spatial organization of Nazi genocide— from ghettoization to extermination. I will also show how geospatial technologies and mapping reveal patterns and offer insights at both city and national levels. Finally, I will address the role of spatial thinking in Holocaust commemoration, connecting geographic education to civic engagement and historical reflection.
Session Focus
Secondary/High School | World History | Geography of the Holocaust, GIS
Conference Room
Lewis
Meet the Presenter
Alberto Giordano is a Professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at Texas State University. He has served as President of UCGIS, the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science and is the current Interim Director of the Gilbert M. Grosvenor Center for Geographic Education at Texas State University. Alberto is a founding member of the Holocaust Geographies Collaborative, a network of researchers and scholars interested in bringing geographical approaches, methods, and perspectives to the study of the Holocaust and other genocides.

Engaging local history through data literacy, storytelling, and digital scholarship
2025-10-18 15:30 - 16:15 (America/Chicago) | Conference Room: Clark
Summary
Building on Ed Ayers’ 2021 essay, “All History is Local,” freely accessible digital scholarship tools and resources will be explored, allowing participants to drill down to local historical data, and then widen the lens to see how their community is part of the story of our shared American past. Data visualizations and interactive mapping projects enhance student engagement by connecting local history classrooms, museums, and historical sites. Innovative open educational resources (OER) and digital scholarship embed data literacy and historical thinking skills. Join this BYOD interactive launchpad for local explorations of our collective stories from America’s past.
Session Focus
All Grade Levels | U.S. History | Digital Storytelling, Geoliteracy
Conference Room
Clark
Meet the Presenter
Annie Evans has spent over half her life teaching history, civics, and geography in Virginia’s K12 public schools. With New American History, she collaborates with a network of educators across the country to create learning resources to inspire the next generation of educators, public historians, and community leaders. Embracing inquiry and place-based learning, she serves as co-coordinator of the Virginia Geographic Alliance and is a National Geographic Grosvenor Teacher Fellow and Certified Educator.
Explore New American History’s Learning Resources, and share your feedback with Annie on Bluesky: @mapm8ker.bksy.social

Citizenship, Identity, and Othering in the Nazi Camp System
2025-10-18 15:30 - 16:15 (America/Chicago) | Conference Room: Nebraska
Summary
This session focuses on a chapter from the forthcoming book, Teaching Holocaust Geographies in Middle and Secondary Schools. The camp system was the heart of Nazi terror and control, and it played a dominant role in the systematic murder of millions of people. When war broke out in September 1939 and Nazi Germany began occupying countries, the camp system grew and expanded into those occupied countries. The camps offer a unique way to examine citizenship, identity, and othering, and to explore how those concepts informed prisoner experiences within the camps. Using geographic concepts to inform examinations of the camp system in classrooms allows students to critically examine the role of geographic and national identity, the concept of othering and exclusion – both internal and external – in constructing national identity, and how these identities came together in the microcosm of Nazi camps and influenced the experiences and chances of survival for those imprisoned in them.
Session Focus
Secondary/High School | World History | Holocaust, Citizenship, Identity
Conference Room
Nebraska
Meet the Presenter
Leah Rauch (she/her) is Director of Education at Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center, where she is responsible for the oversight of all educational initiatives and programs related to educational curricula, field trips, leadership programs, and teacher professional development offered by the Museum. She previously worked as an adjunct professor, teaching Jewish-German history and Holocaust courses in Berlin, where she also worked as an educator at Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museum. She has presented at international academic conferences in France, Germany, and the U.S., and has published articles in academic journals including The Journal for Holocaust Research. She recently co-authored a chapter in Teaching Holocaust Geographies in Middle and Secondary Schools. In 2024, Rauch was appointed to serve on the Illinois Holocaust and Genocide Commission.
Amanda Friedeman (she/her) is Associate Director of Education at Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, overseeing programming for the museum’s school-aged audiences, including field trip content, professional development offerings for educators, and Make a Difference! The Harvey L. Miller Family Youth Exhibition. She also directs the Museum’s Speakers’ Bureau of Holocaust survivors and eyewitness and is a nationally-recognized expert on incorporating voices of the Second Generation into Holocaust education. Friedeman was historical consultant on Hour of Need: The Daring Escape of the Danish Jews during WWII, winner of the 2023 Claus Deleuran Prisen; co-editor of Interrupted Lives: Nine Stories of Child Survivors of the Holocaust; co-author of a chapter in Teaching Holocaust Geographies in Middle and Secondary Schools; and author of “The Visitor as Ambassador and Conduit: Civic Wellness Programs at Illinois Holocaust Museum” (Journal of Museum Education, 50.1, 2025).

Case Studies and World Geography
2025-10-18 15:30 - 16:15 (America/Chicago) | Conference Room: Iowa
Summary
This professional development session will explore the power of case studies in enhancing student learning in world geography. Participants will learn how to select and develop compelling real-world case studies relevant to diverse global issues. We will delve into effective strategies for structuring case study discussions to foster critical thinking, problem-solving, and inquiry-based learning. Participants will gain valuable insights into assessing student understanding through various methods, including individual reflections, group presentations, and creative projects. By the end of the session, educators will have the tools and confidence to integrate case studies into their classrooms to create engaging and meaningful learning experiences for their students.
Session Focus
APHG | Inquiry | Selecting, Structuring, Assessing
Conference Room
Iowa
Meet the Presenters
William Danes serves as a World Geography Teacher and Department Chair in Aldine ISD. In 2012, William earned his Master’s in Education Technology from Lamar University. Prior to 2018 William served the district as a Technology Specialist. William has taught at both the middle school and high school levels as well. In his free time, William likes to hike and read.

Dawn Brimhall serves as an Instructional Specialist in Aldine ISD and is a current doctoral candidate at the University of Virginia focusing on Curriculum and Instruction. In 2020, Dawn was named the Secondary Teacher of the Year for Aldine ISD and was nominated as a Teacher of the Year for the Houston Area Alliance for Black School Educators (HAABSE). Prior to becoming an Instructional Specialist, Dawn spent 10 years teaching history in Texas and Utah. In her free time, Dawn loves to travel the world and explore new cultures.

Inquiry into Persecution, Scale, and Spatial Change with Holocaust Survivor Testimonies
2025-10-18 15:30 - 16:45 (America/Chicago) | Conference Room: Winnebago
Summary
This presentation is based on our chapter in Teaching Holocaust Geographies in Middle and Secondary Schools, which offers a unique perspective on using geography to understand how this genocide altered people, locations, and landscapes. Using the Geo-Inquiry Progress, students are empowered to use geographic tools to explore Holocaust survivor testimonies to analyze how policies of the Nazi regime impacted Jewish mobility. Investigating persecution across multiple scales, from the local to the global, allows students to develop a deeper understanding of how legislative measures and geography impact the daily lives of individuals. Utilizing survivor testimony in the classroom fosters historical empathy and critical thinking and allows students to connect past restrictions to contemporary issues of forced displacement and migration. The inquiry process engages students in storytelling by creating visual representations of movement and restrictions, allowing them to illustrate patterns of oppression.
This presentation highlights how spatial analysis can enhance historical inquiry in the classroom. Furthermore, by using the Holocaust as a case study, we will illustrate the fragility of democratic societies and promote a deeper appreciation for safeguarding individual rights and civil liberties. Ultimately, our objective is to show how the academic framework of geo-inquiry allows students to examine complex issues at various scales.
Session Focus
Middle School/Junior High | Inquiry | Geo-Inquiry, Scale, Spatial Change
Conference Room
Winnebago
Meet the Presenters
Megan Bowes is in her eleventh year of teaching middle school social studies and is a non-degree-seeking graduate student at the University of South Carolina. Currently a teacher in Greenville, South Carolina, Bowes previously taught in Florida, where she was recognized in 2016 by the Florida Council for Social Studies as the Middle School Teacher of the Year for St. Lucie County. She is an Alfred Lerner Fellow through the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous and is part of the 2022-2024 South Carolina Council on the Holocaust Teacher Fellow Program. She has presented at the South Carolina Association for Middle Level Education and continues her Holocaust education through professional development.

Scott Auspelmyer is the Executive Director of the South Carolina Council on the Holocaust. He is a United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Teaching Fellow who also has 19 years of experience teaching high school social studies in South Carolina and was previously recognized as the National Council for the Social Studies Secondary Educator of the Year. He has presented at numerous state and national conferences and regularly conducts professional development training in Holocaust education for teachers in South Carolina and beyond.

Sovereignty, Territoriality, and the Zangezur Corridor
2025-10-18 16:30 - 17:00 (America/Chicago) | Conference Room: Flannigan
Summary
Participants will hear an overview of the debate over the Zangezur Corridor. Then in small groups, participants will read different viewpoints of the situation. Group members will discuss the pros/cons of anticipated outcomes. As a whole group, we will discuss how the activity could be used with their classes.
Session Focus
Secondary/High School | World/International | Current Events, Trade
Conference Room
Flannigan
Meet the Presenters
Debra Coram Troxell is a National Board Certified Teacher from Winston-Salem, NC. She teaches AP Human Geography and International Relations at West Forsyth High School. Debra is an AP Human Geography exam table leader, APHG PBL Summer Institute facilitator, and serves on the editorial board of The Geography Teacher journal.

When to Teach “Introductory” GIS? Evaluating Course Sequencing Across Institutions
2025-10-18 16:30 - 17:00 (America/Chicago) | Conference Room: Winnebago
Summary
As GIS education continues to expand, it is essential to re-evaluate how introductory GIS courses are sequenced. Historically, introductory GIS was one of the few GIS-related courses available, often positioned later in students’ academic careers. However, with rising demand for GIS professionals and more specialized courses, this approach may be outdated. We examine how different institutions—from community colleges offering GIS early to four-year universities placing it at junior or senior levels—structure their GIS programs. We also explore how prerequisites and course sequencing may deter students from further GIS study or careers in the field. With the growing availability of GIS majors, minors, and certificates, introducing GIS earlier could help build a stronger pipeline of graduates and expand career pathways. By analyzing program structures, we aim to offer insights to enhance the accessibility, appeal, and long-term impact of GIS education.
Session Focus
Higher Education | Curriculum and Instruction| GIS, Sequencing
Conference Room
Winnebago
Meet the Presenters
Dr. Thomas R. Craig is an Assistant Professor of Geography and Geographic Information Science in the Department of Geography and Geospatial Sciences at South Dakota State University. With nearly two decades of experience as a geography educator, Dr. Craig currently teaches a wide range of GIS courses, including Introduction to GIS, Web GIS, Spatial Modeling, and Data Creation and Integration. He holds a Ph.D. in Geography from Oklahoma State University.

Pecans: The All-American Nut
2025-10-18 16:30 - 17:00 (America/Chicago) | Conference Room: Lewis
Summary
The audience will be presented with a short history of the pecan nut. A slide show will follow the history of the pecan, touching on the Native Americans who introduced the nut to the first Europeans exploring the Americas. The wonderful nutritious value and early farming techniques were used to enhance the plant and the pecan’s popularity with the founding fathers of our country. Introduction of several lessons to be used with middle school students of geography and American history. One lesson will be demonstrated with participants, using maps to chart the spread of the pecans throughout the United States and the world. Visual aids will include a branch from a pecan tree, nuts with the hard outer husk still attached, along with native and soft- shelled pecans. We will discuss the different uses of pecans and how the nuts have been modified by improving size, taste, and yield. Our presentation will include products to show, including items made from pecan wood, pecans, and pecan oil.
Session Focus
Middle School/Junior High | U.S. History| America’s, Indigenous, Resource
Conference Room
Lewis
Meet the Presenters
Pamela Hamman was born and raised in Oklahoma and has always had a love for learning. She enjoys reading, exploring new places, and gaining new perspectives. Hamman attended the University of Oklahoma for her undergraduate studies and earned a master’s degree in education from East Central University. She is married to her high school sweetheart, and has two children and two grandchildren. Family is a big part of Hamman’s life, and they continue to be a source of joy and inspiration. She has worked in education for over twenty years and still find excitement in what she does. Every day brings new opportunities to learn—often from her students. She spent her entire teaching career in middle school, and when she first started, someone said, “You’ll either love it or hate it.” She can honestly say she does not hate it! Throughout the years, she has taught a variety of subjects including Civics, World Geography, Western and Eastern Hemisphere Geography, World History, American History, and Current Events. She has also coached high school swim. Her time at Prague Public Schools has been incredibly rewarding—the supportive community and strong connections make it a great place to work. Outside the classroom, she loves working outdoors, traveling, and meeting new people. Hamman is a big fan of live music and tries to attend as many concerts as possible. She also has a deep interest in American History. She had the honor of seeing three U.S. Presidents in person, and is proud to say there’s even an Olympian in my family!
Lousondra Waltz is from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma where she grew up. Waltz graduated from Oklahoma State University with a Bachelor of Arts in History (Go Pokes). She has two sons who graduated from the University of Oklahoma (Go Sooners), they are both happily married but no grandchildren yet. Waltz has been teaching for 28 years in public schools in Oklahoma, both in high school and middle school. She has taught US History, World History, World Geography, US Government, and Western Hemisphere Geography. She loves teaching, traveling, National Parks, history, dogs, and my family. She has greatly enjoyed meeting teachers from all over the country and learning from others.

Mapping the Geographical Theme of Movement on the GeoHistoGram
2025-10-18 16:30 - 17:00 (America/Chicago) | Conference Room: Clark
Summary
From ancient civilizations to religions, technology, and even disease, the geographic theme of “Movement” plays an integral role in our understanding of the world. Participants will investigate the geographic theme of movement utilizing the GeoHistoGram, using such topics as civilizations, religion, and disease. At the end of the session, participants will receive a packet of resources and “class ready” activities.
Session Focus
Secondary/High School | World History | Movement, History/Geography Integration, Mapping
Conference Room
Clark
Meet the Presenter
Cynthia Bloom

Context, Input and Implementation Challenges on Learning Outcomes in Geography
2025-10-18 16:30 - 17:00 (America/Chicago) | Conference Room: Iowa
Summary
Evidence has shown that some of the objectives of geography are hardly met. Research interests have been more on interventions especially on strategies to improve students’ learning outcomes in Geography than on evaluation of the context, input and implementation challenges. Therefore, this study was carried out to evaluate students’ perception, curriculum objectives, content, resources, time allotted, methods of teaching, pedagogical practices, and implementation challenges on learning outcomes in geography. The descriptive survey design was adopted. The multi-stage sampling method was deployed to select 94 teachers and 1800 students of geography. Students’ perception contributed most to achievement (b=0.08; t= 4.02; P<0.05), content had the most contribution to skills attainment (b=0.01; t= 0.39; P>0.05) while, students’ perception also had the highest contribution to practices (b=0.24; t=13.33; P<0.05). All independent variables contributed jointly to students’ achievement, skills and practices.
Session Focus
Secondary/High School | Curriculum and Instruction | Geography Curriculum, Learning Outcomes, Teaching and Learning
Conference Room
Iowa
Meet the Presenter
Dr. Abimbola Andrew Olayemi is the Principal of Jemibewon International Academy, Kogi State, Nigeria. He holds a Ph.D. in Arts and Social Sciences Education, with research interests in Geography Education, Climate Change Education, Social Studies Education, and Curriculum Evaluation. With over a decade of teaching experience at the secondary school level, Dr. Olayemi has published articles in reputable journals and authored e-books, including “How to Excel in a School System” and “Geography Beyond the Classroom.
Peter A. Amosun, Ph.D is a Professor of Social Studies Education and Geography Education at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. Prof. Amosun’s research interests cut across Social Studies and Civic Education, Environmental Education, Climate Change Education, Geography Education, Internet Crime Prevention, and Curriculum and Instruction. He has made tremendous impact in promoting geography education within and outside the University community through scholarly work with local and international benefits. To his credits are several local and international journal articles, chapters in books and books. Professor Amosun is currently the Director, Centre for General Studies in the University of Ibadan. He was the immediate past Head, Department of Arts and Social Sciences Education, University of Ibadan. He has supervised tens of undergraduate and Postgraduate students. He has acted as external examiners within and outside Nigeria. He has mentored many students who are now occupying strategic places and position in the academia both within and outside Nigeria.

Exploring South Asia Through Literature: Using Award-Winning Books to Enrich Geography Education
2025-10-18 16:30 - 17:00 (America/Chicago) | Conference Room: Nebraska
Summary
The South Asia Book Award (SABA) celebrates outstanding literature that authentically portrays the cultures, histories, and lived experiences of South Asians, both in South Asia and across the globe. This session introduces geography educators to the wealth of award-winning books that can enhance students’ understanding of the diverse countries and cultures that make up the South Asian region. Through a curated selection of books, from picture book to young adult novels, participants will discover how to integrate compelling literature into geography curricula to bring South Asia to life in the classroom. Whether you’re teaching about historical events, contemporary cultural issues, or geographical landscapes, these books offer valuable perspectives that will engage students and deepen their global awareness.
Session Focus
Early Childhood/Elementary | Literacy
Conference Room
Nebraska
Meet the Presenters
Julie Wakefield is a retired high school teacher now teaching in the higher education system. She volunteers with the South Asia Book Award Committee to choose books annually that are worthy of recognition. She regularly integrates cultural stories, poetry, literature and other print options into her teaching.

Partners Network Workshop
2026-10-16 09:00 - 12:00 (America/New_York) | Conference Room: Reynolds Leadership Circle
The Partners Network* Workshop is time dedicated to collaboration and collective impact. Everyone invested in geography education is welcome to attend, whether or not you represent an organization. Please come prepared to discuss common challenges and opportunities, share best practices, celebrate your accomplishments, and plan future strategies. The agenda will include time for sharing as well as two presentations that have been selected for their value to Network members.
*Any non-profit organization involved in advancing geography education, or with an aligned mission, is welcome to join the NCGE Partners Network. This includes international and national organizations, alliances and councils organized at the state level, and higher education departments and their auxiliaries. Partners are encouraged to share information on their activities throughout the year so that NCGE can help aggregate, amplify, and publicize the work we are doing to support geography education at all levels and the impact that work is having.
Full Schedule

9:00 -10:00 am: Annual highlights lightning round.

Any organization that desires can use 3 minutes and up to 3 slides to share key accomplishments and upcoming activities.

10:15-11:00: “Assessing statewide needs of geography education: a landscape analysis story from Oregon.”

Geographic literacy is increasingly necessary for informed civic and career readiness while at the same time geography instructional time is in steady decline. How can interested organizations assess and plan for a systematic approach to better support and improve geography education across a region? Come hear the story of a landscape analysis process conducted in Oregon and discuss what lessons you can take away and apply to your home state or region.
About the Presenter- Sarah Anderson is an educator, author, and consultant specializing in place-based education and curriculum design. Previously a middle school teacher, Sarah is the author of the book Bringing School to Life: Place-based Education across the Curriculum. Her research has been published in Educational Leadership, Education Week, Educational Studies and Green Schools Catalyst Quarterly and her work has been featured by Yes! Magazine and Edutopia. Sarah is currently a doctoral candidate in the Educational Theory and Practice program at Simon Fraser University.

11:15-12:00: “Strategies for funding a state geographic alliance”

Research shows that some state geography alliances have a private endowment, some received money back from National Geographic, and some have funding from the state legislatures. A large number of state alliances lost all funding after 2018. This is analogous to early river travelers going upstream from the coast, who had to stop at a waterfall cliff or a fall line. Geography education encountered a cliff in 2018 and must find a way around it, including securing funding. The purpose of this session is present and discuss strategies for funding state geography alliances.
About the Presenter – Harris Payne and Jerry Mitchell
Conference Room
Reynolds Leadership Circle

Kickin' it Old School with Hands-on Learning tools
2026-10-16 13:00 - 13:30 (America/Chicago) | Conference Room: Byrd
Summary
This strategy is especially powerful in Human and Cultural Geography because it mirrors the way geographers analyze patterns, relationships, and spatial organization. In human geography, students are constantly asked to categorize economic activities, compare demographic trends, evaluate political boundaries, and interpret cultural diffusion. “Sorts” make these abstract processes tangible.
When students physically group migration examples into push and pull factors, classify agricultural systems by level of development, or organize countries by demographic stage, they are practicing core geographic thinking skills: pattern recognition, scale analysis, regional comparison, and cause-and-effect reasoning. The discussion that emerges requires them to defend claims using evidence and precise vocabulary — reinforcing disciplinary literacy.
This strategy is especially powerful in Human and Cultural Geography because it mirrors the way geographers analyze patterns, relationships, and spatial organization. In human geography, students are constantly asked to categorize economic activities, compare demographic trends, evaluate political boundaries, and interpret cultural diffusion. “Sorts” make these abstract processes tangible.
By turning spatial analysis into a collaborative, tactile experience, “sorts” help students actively construct geographic understanding rather than passively receive it, strengthening both conceptual mastery and critical thinking.
Session Focus
Secondary/High School | Human and Cultural Geography | Assessment
Conference Room
Byrd
Meet the Presenters
Jim Dzialo, Kolleen Madeck and Greg Sherwin have a combined 60 years of classroom experience across a multitude of disciplines, including Human Geography, Government, Economics, and Sociology. Beyond our own classrooms, we have a long-standing commitment to the profession, having designed and led professional development workshops focused on student-centered learning. Currently, we are dedicated to evolving our curriculum through the lens of Project-Based Learning (PBL) and inquiry, ensuring our students aren’t just learners, but active investigators of the world around them.

Death Valley Daze
2026-10-16 13:00 - 13:45 (America/Chicago) | Conference Room: Cullen
Summary
Death Valley National Park, CA may be the most diverse geographically in the country. Death Valley is the hottest place on earth, the driest and lowest place in North America and the largest NP outside of Alaska. From -282 Badwater, the lowest place in the Western Hemisphere, one can see the often snow-capped 11,049′ Telescope Peak within the park. DVNP contains dunes, rocks, alluvial fans, hills, mesas, buttes, creosote, Joshua trees, fish, birds, reptiles, amphibians, minerals, salt pans, a ‘racetrack’, a ‘golf course’, a ‘castle’ and yes, water to name a few. Using multimedia, a variety of handouts and desert snacks, a retired soldier who was stationed at Fort Irwin adjacent to the park will bring this park to life. If you love Geography, DVNP should be on your to-do list.
*Spread the love of Geography to my fellow educators by sharing my passion for one of the most geographically diverse parks around.
*Any teacher can incorporate the geographic themes in a variety of lessons featuring this and other parks.
Session Focus
All Grade Levels| Physical & Environmental Geography | U.S. Focused
Conference Room
Cullen
Meet the Presenters
Brent Bagley, a longtime geography educator, NCGE Lifetime Member, and retired U.S. Army veteran whose career reflects a deep commitment to both service and education. Brent served in the U.S. Army from 1983–2013 as a logistician supporting military operations and relief efforts, including Operation Desert Storm, post-9/11 deployments, and Hurricane Katrina response efforts.
While serving in the Army Reserves, Brent taught AP and regular Geography courses at Murray County High School in Chatsworth, Georgia, from 1993–2008. During his teaching career, he became actively involved with the National Council for Geographic Education, presenting at local, state, and national conferences, including NCGE conferences in Boston and Oklahoma City. He also completed AP Human Geography training at Texas A&M under Drs. Bob and Sarah Bednarz and participated in AP Human Geography Exam scoring sessions in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Today, Brent continues his dedication to community service through his church, the Lions Club, and the American Legion, where he serves as historian for Post 29 in Marietta, Georgia.

250 Years of American Growth: Hands-on Explorations of U.S. Human Geography and History
2026-10-16 13:00 - 15:00 (America/Chicago) | Conference Room: Halsey Family Hall
Summary
U.S. history meets Human and Environmental Geography in this hands-on workshop that examines 250 years of America demography, land and natural resource use, and ecological milestones. After a brief introduction to the trends we’ll explore, participants will spend most of the workshop engaging in collaborative classroom activities. One activity is a full-group role-play that’s a vehicle for comparing different demographic and development data points across the decades. In another activity participants construct and interpret population pyramids for different historical eras. Using historical census data, participants will map U.S. population density and expansion across the country from eastern cities along the fall line (including Richmond) to metro areas in the West. We will also use archival census data to analyze connections between family size trends and a range of social and economic indicators. Our group will then create a timeline of environmental events that bridges physical and human geography. Lessons build skills in critical thinking, data analysis and visualization, using geographic tools and primary source documents. Participants will receive lesson plans and background readings in an electronic format, matched to state standards, the C3 Framework, and AP Human Geography..
Session Focus
Secondary/High School | America 250 Through a Geographic Lens | Curriculum and Instruction
Conference Room
Halsey Family Hall
Meet the Presenters
Carol Bliese is the Senior Director of Teacher Programs for the Population Education (PopEd) program at the non-profit organization Population Connection. The program provides teaching materials, professional development workshops, and ongoing support for current and future K-12 teachers that focuses on environmental topics around sustainability and societal topics around global citizenship. Carol manages the day-to-day functioning of PopEd’s workshop program, oversees the development of curriculum, and participates in short and long-term strategic planning. She facilitates teacher training workshops, in-person and online, throughout the U.S. and Canada and has led over 850 workshops in her almost 20 years with the program, including sessions for the National Council for the Social Studies, National Science Teaching Association, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, the North American Association of Environmental Education, and the National Council of Geographic Education.
Cara Bora is an Education Program Associate with the Population Education (PopEd) program at the non-profit organization Population Connection. The program provides teaching materials, professional development workshops, and ongoing support for current and future K-12 teachers that focuses on environmental topics around sustainability and societal topics around global citizenship. She coordinates the Population Education workshops, staff trips, and program outreach in the northeastern part of the U.S. She also conducts workshops online and in-person across the country. Prior to joining PopEd, Cara served as a Science Specialist for elementary grades and taught Science classes to middle schoolers.

Infusing Geography into Genealogy: Creating a Family Geography
2026-10-16 13:00 - 15:00 (America/Chicago) | Conference Room: Reynolds Leadership Circle
Summary
This workshop is designed to bring a lesson to a larger, teaching professional, audience. The Family Geography Project transforms the well-worn family tree into a more critical and more research aligned document that has served to enhance student understanding of the complex socioeconomic situations that create a each family’s geography. The essence of the project underscores the NCGE Strand “Geography for Life” and parallels the “America250 through a Geographic Lens” strand. The end result is a living document that can be added to as students continue their lifelong geographical journey.
Session Focus
All Grade Levels| Geography for Life | Curriculum and Instruction
Conference Room
Reynolds Leadership Center
Meet the Presenters
Johnathan Walker is an Assistant Professor of Geography at James Madison University in the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies. He holds degrees in Geography from the University of California-Berkely (A.B.), Syracuse University (M.A.) and University of Georgia (Ph.D.). He primality teaches World Regional Geography in support of the General Education curriculum. He is the JMU 2026 recipient of the Provost’s Award for Excellence in General Education Teaching.

Mental Maps & The Holocaust: Teaching Facts and Perspective Using Geo-Literacy Skills
2026-10-16 13:00 - 15:00 (America/Chicago) | Conference Room: Lacy
Summary
Examining the Holocaust spatially positions students to think about genocide in new ways. In documenting the Holocaust following World War II, war crimes investigators from the state and the Jewish community asked eyewitnesses to create mental maps of Treblinka. For human geographers, mental mapping represents an opportunity to understand how people perceive a particular place, capturing objective knowledge and subjective perceptions and impressions of a place (National Geographic Society, 2024). In this session, participants will grapple with the question: How do we teach the Holocaust with accuracy while also teaching the subjectivity of mental maps? Using war crime investigation maps of Treblinka, we developed a lesson that requires students to (1) examine the topography surrounding Treblinka, (2) compare maps for content and visualization, (3) analyze how the depiction of Treblinka in Holocaust survivor memoirs compare to the maps, (4) assess how the perspective of the witness influenced the mental map, and (5) discuss the validity of the maps for use in postwar war crimes trials. Through this lesson, students understand how maps can be representations of both data and perceptions and the role spatial thinking can play in documenting atrocities and holding perpetrators accountable.
Session Focus
All Grade Levels| Human and Cultural Geography | World History
Conference Room
Lacy
Meet the Presenters
Jeff Eargle is a clinical associate professor at the University of South Carolina where he serves as the Secondary Social Studies Program Coordinator in the College of Education. He is the coeditor of the forthcoming two-volume book Teaching Holocaust Geographies in Middle and High School from Palgrave Macmillan

Chad Gibbs is an Assistant Professor and the Director of the Zucker/Goldberg Center for Holocaust Studies at the College of Charleston. His book, Survival at Treblinka: Geography, Gender, and Social Networks in Jewish Resistance, was recently published by the University of Wisconsin Press.

Bethany M. Sanders is a doctoral student in the College of Education at the University of South Carolina and a high school social studies teacher in the South Carolina public school system. She received NCGE’s K–12 Distinguished Teaching Award in 2024, and her doctoral studies focus on teaching geo-literacy in the secondary classroom.

Count Me In! Using Labs to Teach Population Geography
2026-10-16 13:45 - 14:15 (America/Chicago) | Conference Room: Byrd
Summary
In this session, we will discuss how to use laboratory assignments to teach population geography. Population geography connects diverse topics including sustainability, economics, politics, and culture. Using labs to teach this topic allows students to use real world data to deepen their understanding of population geography concepts. In this session, we will begin with an overview of teaching population geography, connecting it to geography and social studies standards. In the second part, examples of labs will be introduced, including the topics of international censuses, population policy campaigns, age specific fertility rates, and migration patterns. While the session is geared toward the college classroom, the content is easily adaptable to middle and high school grades. Lab assignments will be shared with attendees.
Session Focus
Higher Education | Human and Cultural Geography | Curriculum and Instruction
Conference Room
Byrd
Meet the Presenters
Gillian Acheson is a professor in the Department of Geography & GIS at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. She teaches a variety of courses including World Regions, Human Geography, Population Geography, Spatial Thinking & Behavior, Geography of Food, and Geography and Social Justice. Her research interests are in geography education and the cultural landscape with publications ranging from map reading and comprehension to representation of women in introductory geography textbooks to the cultural landscape of cemeteries.

From Trends to Teaching: Navigating Tensions and Charting a Future for Geography Education Research
2026-10-16 14:00 - 14:30 (America/Chicago) | Conference Room: Cullen
Summary
As instructional time for social studies continues to shrink in many K–12 settings, geography educators face increasing pressure to demonstrate the relevance, rigor, and interdisciplinary potential of the discipline. This session invites participants into a discussion of current trends in geography education, including effective teaching, data-visualization, geospatial technologies, and STEM aligned inquiry that positions geography as essential to real world problem solving. Broader implications in the field of education and impacts of state policy changes are explored. Participants will consider actionable approaches for integrating geography into interdisciplinary instruction, expanding its presence in the elementary and secondary curriculum, and advocating for its continued visibility in the broader social studies landscape.
Session Focus
All Grade Levels | Geography for Life | Curriculum and Instruction
Conference Room
Cullen
Meet the Presenters
Dr. Mary D. Curtis is an Assistant Professor at the University of Houston-Clear Lake in the College of Education where she coordinates the Social Studies teacher preparation program. Dr. Curtis is a geography educator with over 20 years of experience and service from local to international levels. She currently serves as the Vice Chair for the Association of American Geographers Geography Education Specialty Group and as Associate Editor for the Journal of Geography.

International Efforts to Improve Geography Teaching and Learning
2026-10-16 14:30 - 15:00 (America/Chicago) | Conference Room: Byrd
Summary
This presentation focuses on an upcoming book – International Perspectives on Geography Education (Edward Elgar, 2026) – that highlights the actions taken by geography educators who work to improve the teaching and learning of geographic content. Much that is published in geography education today is pessimistic and bemoans the status of the discipline compared to other academic areas, the difficulty in training quality geography teachers, and the poor performance of students with the subject’s content and skills (such as map reading, analysis, and construction). While these challenges are certainly present, this book seeks to highlight the successes seen in three main areas: student learning, teacher preparation, and teacher professional development. The book is, therefore, one that is positive, optimistic, and showcases for the reader actions that are worth emulating in other places. The presenter will share the successes of authors representing Australia, Belize, Brazil, Chile, Czechia, Germany, South Africa, Singapore, and the United States
Session Focus
Higher Education | Geography for Life | World/International
Conference Room
Byrd
Meet the Presenters
Jerry Mitchell is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Geography at the University of South Carolina. He is a past president of the NCGE and a Fellow of the American Association of Geographers.

The Geospatial Semester at 22: Tales from the Field
2026-10-16 15:15 - 15:45 (America/Chicago) | Conference Room: Reynolds Leadership Circle
Summary
The Geospatial Semester is a unique and innovative project that connects high school students and geospatial technologies to bolster their spatial problem solving and open them up to the myriad careers across the many industries that use these technologies. Students earn dual enrollment credit from JMU and are required to do an extensive project of their own choosing. Since its inception in 2005, more than 10,000 students have participated. We have done a wide array of research to identify the key cognitive and behavioral gains afforded to participating students. In this short presentation, we’ll give a brief introduction to the Geospatial Semester, share examples of student work and discuss the key research findings. Most importantly, you’ll find out how you can bring this successful project to your school
Session Focus
Secondary/High School | Geospatial Technology | STEM
Conference Room
Reynolds Leadership Center
Meet the Presenters
Bob Kolvoord is a professor at James Madison University (JMU), where he also serves as Interim Provost. Bob is the co-creator (with Kathryn Keranen) of the Geospatial Semester, the award-winning dual enrollment program at JMU that brings GIS instruction and projects to students in Virginia. Bob is also the co-author of the Making Spatial Decisions series from ESRI Press. He is interested in how GIS use impacts students’ spatial thinking and problem solving abilities and has collaborated with colleagues at Northwestern, Georgetown, Dartmouth, American and Gallaudet to study this question.

Stories of the Chesapeake
2026-10-16 15:15 - 15:45 (America/Chicago) | Conference Room: Cullen
Summary
Stories of the Chesapeake offers a compelling glimpse into the cultures, communities, and environmental challenges of America’s estuary, the Chesapeake Bay. As one of the nation’s most important natural laboratories for geographic inquiry, the region provides a powerful example of how physical landscapes and human systems interact across space and time. Stretching across six states and the District of Columbia, the Bay’s vast watershed is shaped by rivers that meander toward the Atlantic, carrying sediment, nutrients, and pollution. These waterways reveal critical connections among land use, urban planning, agriculture, food systems, water quality, and climate change.
The Chesapeake Bay is also deeply connected to life along the Fall Line—the natural boundary where the Piedmont meets the Coastal Plain—where cities emerged and commerce flourished. From Old Point Comfort to pivotal moments such as the War of 1812, the presentation highlights the Bay’s layered geography and enduring significance. Together, these stories illuminate a dynamic system that continues to shape the environmental, economic, and cultural identity of the region.
Session Focus
All Grade Levels | America250 through a Geographic Lens, Physical & Environmental Geography, Human and Cultural Geography | World/International
Conference Room
Cullen
Meet the Presenters
Michael Allen, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Geography at Towson University, 2023 U.S. Fulbright Scholar to Serbia, and President-Elect of the International Society of Biometeorology. Prior, he served as co-coordinator of the Virginia Geographic Alliance and Geography Program Director at Old Dominion University. Since 2019, Michael has coordinated the Chesapeake Bay Climate Institute, a hands-on professional development experience highlighting America’s Estuary, drawing linkages between APHG and other disciplines to the issue of climate change and resilience.

Art, Dance, Theatre, Oh My! Using Arts-Methodologies in the Geography Classroom
2026-10-16 15:15 - 16:00 (America/Chicago) | Conference Room: Lacy
Summary
Come explore how art, dance, theatre, and other creative methodologies can deepen student understanding of geography! In this session, participants will engage in hands-on activities that bring historical narratives, social movements, and global issues to life through tableau theatre, protest art, and cartographic storytelling. Attendees will walk away with ready-to-use lesson ideas, creative assessment strategies, and a renewed vision for incorporating art into their classroom
Session Focus
All Grade Levels | Human and Cultural Geography | Curriculum and Instruction
Conference Room
Lacy
Meet the Presenters
Bethany M. Sanders is a doctoral student in the College of Education at the University of South Carolina and a high school social studies teacher in the South Carolina public school system. She received NCGE’s K–12 Distinguished Teaching Award in 2024, and her doctoral studies focus on teaching geo-literacy in the secondary classroom.

Jessica Flach

Myth, Trolls, and Tectonics: Using Storytelling to Teach Physical Geography
2026-10-16 16:00 - 16:30 (America/Chicago) | Conference Room: Reynolds Leadership Circle
Summary
Iceland’s dramatic landscapes are deeply intertwined with a rich tradition of storytelling, where myths and folklore once served to explain the “unexplainable” in the physical world. This presentation demonstrates how geography educators can leverage such narratives to help K–12 students make sense of core physical geography processes, from coastal erosion to volcanism and river flooding. Grounded in a constructivist and inquiry-based approach, the lesson framework invites students to interpret stories, question “why,” and then connect folkloric explanations with scientific concepts.
Participants will experience a short-version lesson in which students are given a myth and asked to identify the underlying physical process and explain it scientifically. A longer version extends this work over one or more weeks by having students locate a myth from any culture, analyze the physical geography embedded in the story, and draw parallels between cultural and scientific explanations. Additional examples from other cultures illustrate how this approach can be adapted across regions and grade levels. Attendees will leave with ready-to-use lesson structures, ideas for sourcing culturally diverse myths, and strategies for fostering reflective, interrogative classroom discussions that deepen students’ understanding of Earth’s dynamic systems while honoring multiple ways of knowing
Session Focus
All Grade Levels | Physical & Environmental Geography | Inquiry
Conference Room
Reynolds Leadership Circle
Meet the Presenters
Mayra Román-Rivera

How Students Can Apply “The Ten Steps of Walkability” to Evaluate Any Downtown
2026-10-16 16:15 - 16:45 (America/Chicago) | Conference Room: Byrd
Summary
In his book, Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time (2012), Jeff Speck offers ten planning steps for creating American downtowns that are useful, safe, comfortable, and interesting. While the ten steps emphasize walkability, they include improvements to land use, public transit, bicycle use, and traffic flow. In this presentation, I demonstrate how to use Speck’s “Ten Steps” to design a downtown field exercise for university geography students. After reading and discussing the ten steps, my students participated in a guided walk of downtown Edwardsville, Illinois, to collect notes and photos of their observations. They were instructed to answer two questions as they wrote up their results: (1) What does the city do well to promote walkability? and (2) How could walkability in downtown be improved? The assignment concluded with a short paper and an in-class discussion of their results. The surprising outcome of this discussion was students’ desire to learn more about the planning decisions behind what they saw in the field. Applying Speck’s “Ten Steps” gives students the structure to make sense of their field observations and draw meaningful conclusions.
Session Focus
Higher Education | Human and Cultural Geography | Curriculum and Instruction
Conference Room
Byrd
Meet the Presenters
Dr. Susan Hume is a professor in the Department of Geography & GIS at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. She believes in the power of field study in geographic education and has made field-based assignments an integral part of her urban geography and sustainable transportation courses. Susan is a lifetime member and past president of NCGE.

Resources for Teaching Political Geography
2026-10-16 16:15 - 16:45 (America/Chicago) | Conference Room: Lacy
Summary
Teaching political geography can be an especially complicated task as foreign relations issues are now flash points for cultural and academic debate. This session is designed to connect educators with high-quality non-partisan materials to help teach foreign relations, and how to connect to the content and practices of political geography. Using practice-based methodologies to engage students in “doing” geography, one of the goals of this session is to give teachers ideas on how to get students working with geographic data to involve students in learning concepts while examining real-world situations.
Session Focus
Secondary/High School | Human and Cultural Geography & Geography for Life | Government and Civics
Conference Room
Lacy
Meet the Presenters
Dr. Kyle Tredinnick

Poster Session: Using Extracurricular Programs to Further Geographic Education
2026-10-17 | Conference Area: Commonwealth Hall
Summary
The International Scholars Program is an innovative, student-centered initiative designed to extend geographic education beyond the traditional classroom. Grounded in inquiry-based and interdisciplinary learning, the program immerses students in the study of global geographies, cultures, governments, economies, and histories through sustained, experiential engagement. Participants engage in structured book studies, cultural analyses, collaborative inquiry sessions, academic research projects, and community presentations. The program also incorporates guest speakers and local partnerships to connect global themes to lived experiences.
By intentionally integrating academic rigor with experiential exploration, the International Scholars Program cultivates geographic literacy, critical thinking, cultural competence, and civic awareness. Students move beyond memorization of places and facts to develop spatial understanding, global interdependence awareness, and informed perspectives on contemporary international issues.
This poster will outline the program’s design framework, implementation strategies, and sample learning cycles. Attendees will gain practical tools for adapting the model to diverse educational settings. The International Scholars Program demonstrates how structured, inquiry-driven enrichment can meaningfully advance geographic education and prepare students for engaged global citizenship.
Session Focus
All Grade Levels | Human and Cultural Geography | Curriculum and Instruction
Conference Room/Area
Commonwealth Hall
Meet The Presenter
Justin McCrackin
