National Council for Geographic Education

APHG Exam Prep with iScore5!
2024-03-20 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Webinar
Summary
Come hang out with iScore5 and get all of your questions answered about the AP Human Geography exam. The session will focus on your questions about best practices to prepare for the exam. For example, reviewing the structure of the exam – types of MCQ questions; types of FRQ questions; recent trends of FRQs. Also, different ways to engage your students using a variety of methods.
Presenters
Greg Sherwin, Paul Gray, and Ken Keller
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Geography of Mudejar Spain & Portugal
2024-04-10 19:00 - 20:00
Summary
After the fall of Zaragoza, the first taifa kingdom to be conquered by the kingdom of Aragon, the muslim & jewish population of Al Andalus became “mudayyan” (mudéjar): they lived under Christian rule. There is a progressive loss of rights but nevertheless the mudayyan population remained in their lands beyond the final disintegration of Al Andalus. They changed status again after their forced baptism at the beginning of the 16th century and remained in the Peninsula until their expulsion in the period 1609-1614. This documentary focuses on the legacy of Andalusian population mainly in the Taifa of Balansiya (Valencia), and includes references to sciences, technology, trade and connections with the Mediterranean and Asian worlds.
About the Presenters:
Dr. Barbara Ruiz-Bejarano is honorary professor at the UNESCO-University of Alicante Chair “Islam, Culture and Society”. She holds a PhD in Islamic Studies and her main research is focused on Muslim communities in non-Islamic societies. She is the Director of Fundación Las Fuentes. She works mainly in economic relations with the Islamic world, policy making, Muslim minorities in Europe, islamophobia, economic development, female and youth empowerment or regional cooperation. She formerly worked in several European programmes for research, development, cooperation and education.
David Segarra is an independent journalist and documentary film-maker from Valencia, Spain. His documentaries have been translated and broadcasted in televisions, film-festivals and cinemas of North and Latin America and Europe. And also in Arab and Islamic countries, from Morocco to Qatar, and from Palestine to Türkiye. His documentaries and texts are translated to Arabic, Turkish, English, French, Portugueses, Spanish and Catalan. His main theme is documenting rural and traditional cultures and resistances.
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Tips and Tricks to prepare students for the AP Exam
2024-04-13 12:00
Summary
In partnership with College Board, this webinar will provide strategies and ideas to help prepare your students for the AP exam. There will be McQ strategies, review of the FRQ task verbs and an overview of the exam itself.
About the Presenter
Jaela Vazquez leads AP Human Geography classes at Coral Reef Senior High School in Miami, Florida, highlighting the tangible significance of geography in students’ lives. She emphasizes hands-on projects to promote sustainability and civic engagement, empowering students well beyond the classroom.
David Valdez is a veteran AP teacher in Colorado. He is involved in many College Board projects and participates in the Reading annually.
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Digital Storytelling in the Geography Classroom
2024-04-17 19:00 - 20:00
Summary:
In this webinar, filmmaker and professor of digital storytelling, Dr. Imani Cheers will present her expertise on digital storytelling in the classroom, which she uses as a way to document and share critical environmental and social issues. She will share her research and filming experiences in South Africa, Namibia, and Palestine, documenting systems of institutionalized racial segregation, terror, and political and economic disenfranchisement. This project later became the documentary Agricultural Apartheid: Land and Water. Attendees are encouraged to view these two short films directed by Dr. Cheers before the webinar: Agricultural Apartheid: Land and Water and Journey to Freedom
About the Presenter:
Imani M. Cheers, Ph.D., is an associate professor of digital storytelling at George Washington University. She is an award-winning digital storyteller, director, producer, and filmmaker. As a professor of practice, she uses a variety of mediums including video, photography, television, and film to document and discuss issues impacting and involving people of the African Diaspora. Her scholarly focus is on the intersection of women/girls, technology, health, conflict, agriculture, and the effects of climate change in sub-Saharan Africa.

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5 Ways To Teach About Scale With Interactive Maps
2024-04-24 19:00 - 20:00
Summary
Discover engaging interactive ways to teach about the important concept of map scale across population, rivers, and other geographic themes.
About the Presenter

Joseph Kerski is a lifelong geographer who conducts faculty development workshops, serves on the Esri Education team, served as NCGE president, and teaches in a variety of settings.
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Jewish Immigration to America: 1880-1924
2024-05-01 19:00
Summary
This session will explore Jewish immigration to the United States in the early 20th century. Participants will receive the context for Jewish immigration between 1880-1924, discuss the various push and pull factors that brought Jewish immigrants to America, understand the cultural pressures and contributions of Jewish Americans, and grapple with the repercussions of the 1924 Immigration Act.
About the Presenter
Erika Lowrey is in her 27th year in education. She has taught middle school and high school geography courses for students in ESL Sheltered, Inclusion, On- Level, Pre AP, and AP Human Geography. She is currently in her third year serving as a Regional Educator for the education non-profit Institute for Curriculum Services. Erika was awarded the National Council for Geographic Education Distinguished Teaching Achievement award in 2013. In addition, Erika was honored as a Distinguished Alumni from the College of Education at The Florida State University in 2020. Her dedication to social studies extends beyond the classroom to statewide and national leadership roles. She served as a member of the National Geographic Society’s Texas Advisory Committee in 2018 – 2019. She was President of Texas Council for the Social Studies in 2018 and President of the National Social Studies Supervisors Association in 2021. In 2022 she was selected as the Texas Social Studies Supervisor of the Year. Erika received her Bachelor of Science in Social Studies Education from The Florida State University and a Master of Education from National Louis University.
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How do We Explain Conflict? Evidence from Syria
2024-05-08 19:00 - 20:00
Summary
While teaching about war and conflict is never an easy topic in the classroom, it is important for young people to be exposed to geopolitics and understand the current events they see in the news. But how do we make sense of conflicts when we are inundated with competing explanations for why they start? In this webinar, Daniel Neep will answer this question with reference to one of the most chronic – and most misunderstood – conflicts of the 21st century: the Syrian civil war. Is the enduring conflict in Syria best explained by the historical legacies of the past, environmental disaster, ethnic and religious rivalries, or the failures of economic policy-making? The webinar will explore the factors that contributed to the conflict in Syria and analyze the lessons that can be drawn from it.
About the Presenter
Daniel Neep is a political scientist who works on conflict and state-building in the Middle East, with a focus on Syria, where he lived for five years prior to the uprising. Neep is the author of Occupying Syria: Insurgency, Space, and State Formation (Cambridge University Press, 2012). He is currently finishing his second book, The Nation Belongs to All: The Making of Modern Syria, which explains Syria’s political development in terms of global transformations, changing economic infrastructures, emerging political geographies, and waves of popular protest. His research has also been published in journals including International Affairs, New Political Economy, and the Journal of Historical Sociology.
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Webinar: Connecting Globally, Educating Locally: Empowering Students through Virtual Exchange with Reach the World
2024-05-15 19:00 - 20:00
Summary
Explore Reach the World’s innovative platform aimed at enhancing students’ geographic awareness through personalized virtual exchanges. Connect with their active network of travelers and learn practical ways to implement virtual exchanges in your classroom, igniting curiosity, confidence, and compassion among students.
About the Presenter
Jessica Wurzbacher, the new Program Manager at Reach the World, brings a wealth of experience from diverse roles in education, non-profit leadership, and marine science. Her journey, from teaching high school biology and oceanography to sailing 40,000 nautical miles around the globe, has been fueled by a passion for fostering global connections through experiential learning. Enthusiastic about contributing to Reach the World’s vision of making the benefits of travel and global networks accessible to all students, Jessica looks forward to collaborating with the Reach the World community to enrich the lives of students through virtual exchange.
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APHG Bellringers: How to Apply in the Classroom
2024-08-13 19:00 - 20:00
Summary
Tips and Tricks from classroom teachers on how to use the Bell Ringers in your AP Human Geography class. Bellringers can also be used in any on-level World Geography course.
About the Presenters
Laura Kmetz currently teaches AP Human Geography, AP Psychology and Sociology. She is the lead APHG teacher in Dallas ISD and the author of the NCGE Bell Ringers. She is a College Board consultant and has participated in the AP Reading since 2017.
Allison Young is entering her 21st year as a Social Studies Teacher in Virginia. She has taught World History for most of her career and started teaching AP Human Geography in the 2023-2024 school year
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Global Population Trends
2024-08-28 19:00 - 20:00
Overview
Dr. Lu will discuss global population trends with correlations to the AP Human Geography CED. However, this presentation is great for all teachers of Geography at all levels!
About the Presenter
Max Lu is a Professor in the Department of Geography and Geospatial Sciences, Kansas State University. His research interests include population migration, regional development, human dimensions of environmental change, and China.
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Environmental Cooperation as a Path to Peace in The Middle East
2024-09-04 19:00 - 20:00
Overview
This session examines some of the major environmental challenges in the Middle East, particularly around water resources, and the ways that Israelis, Jordanians, and Palestinians are cooperating to meet these challenges. Participants will experience social and environmental activism in the Middle East by focusing on three case studies that they can then use with students in their classrooms.
About the Presenter
Throughout her 28 years in education, Erika Lowery has taught MS/HS Geography, has been a Secondary Social Studies Supervisor, and is currently in her fourth year serving as a Regional Educator for the education non-profit, Institute for Curriculum Services. Erika was awarded the National Council for Geographic Education Distinguished Teaching Achievement award in 2013. She was President of TXCSS in 2018 and President of NSSSA in 2021. In 2021, Erika was honored as a Distinguished Alumnus from the College of Education at The Florida State University and in 2022 she was selected as the Texas Social Studies Supervisor of the Year. Also, in 2022, Erika was honored with the TXCSS Billy Sills Distinguished Service in Social Studies award.

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Dual Codes and a Single Mission: Gamifying Climate Education
2024-09-18 19:00 - 20:00
Overview
Participants will take part in gamified climate education activities and discuss how gamification is being used in the classroom.
About the Presenter
Ruth Ohaka is Masters of Geography student at the University of Northern Iowa and former classroom teacher.
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Hidden in Plain Sight: How to Use Your Local Geographic Landscape in Class
2024-10-02 19:00 - 20:00
Overview
In this webinar, experts from iScore5 will demonstrate innovative approaches, including being a windshield geographer. Presenters will demonstrate how teachers can uncover and highlight geographic concepts embedded in everyday surroundings through their own (or even students’) photographs of the local landscape using CED Skill 4 Source Analysis and qualitative data. This method not only makes lessons more relatable and engaging for students but also fosters a deeper understanding which allows students to APPLY geographical concepts and theories in their communities.
The Presenter
Paul Gray, Ken Keller and Greg Sherwin
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Displacement and Belonging
2024-10-30 19:00 - 20:00
Overview
This webinar explores the lived realities of Palestinian and Syrian refugees in Jordan, with a particular focus on their senses of belonging to different places. By focusing on Jordan, a Global South state that hosts among the largest number of refugees per capita, this webinar highlights the human side of displacement and offers humanitarian options for managing refugee flows globally.
The Presenter
Karen Culcasi is an Associate Professor of Geography at West Virginia University. Her research uses critical and feminist geopolitical frames to examine contested places and identities. Her work focuses on the “Middle East”, the Arab World, and Appalachia. She is the author of Displacing Territory: Syrian and Palestinian Refugees in Jordan. Based on fieldwork, this book explores the lived experience of refugees and their sense of belonging to different places and territories. Currently, Dr. Culcasi is currently working on two research projects: an archival research project on maps of the so-called “Middle East” and a project on Islamophobia and the daily lives of Muslims in West Virginia.
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Spaceship in the Desert
2024-11-06 19:00 - 20:00
Overview
In 2006, Abu Dhabi launched an ambitious project to construct the world’s first “zero-carbon” city: Masdar City. This talk investigates the construction of renewable energy and clean technology infrastructures in oil-rich Abu Dhabi as the era of abundant oil supplies slowly comes to an end. It explores the production of Masdar City in Abu Dhabi and shows how the Masdar City project was instrumental for economic diversification in the United Arab Emirates, helping generate a “green” brand image. At the same time, it demonstrates how the renewable energy and clean technology infrastructures of Masdar City fueled an aspiration for the manageability of ecological problems, where business models and design solutions would contain and resolve climate change and energy scarcity without surrendering hope for increasing productivity and technological complexity. Focusing on iconic renewable energy and clean technology initiatives, this talk responds to the debates on whether Masdar City and its multiple infrastructures were successes or failures and examines the potential of evolving projects.
Audience
High School | Advanced Placement | Higher Education
Meet the Presenter
Gökçe Günel is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at Rice University, focusing on energy and climate change in the Middle East and Africa. Her latest book Spaceship in the Desert: Energy, Climate Change and Urban Design in Abu Dhabi, released in 2019, focuses on the construction of energy and clean technology infrastructure in the United Arab Emirates, specifically on the Masdar City project, a $22 billion project to construct the “world’s most sustainable eco-city”. She is currently working on a second book titled Energy Accumulation, focused on a Turkish-built floating power plant in Ghana.
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Toxic Supply Chains of War in Iraq
2024-12-11 19:00 - 20:00
Overview
Taking war as a toxic structure, this talk begins at the belly of war, in Fallujah, Iraq — one of the most heavily bombarded cities in Iraq. Based on Rubaii’s ethnographic fieldwork between 2014 and 2023, the talk traces weaponized metals from the sand and bodies of children in Fallujah back to their origins at war’s jaws: mineral mines in the DR Congo, where such metals are extracted by artisanal miners for use by tech and weapons companies. The talk also follows the post-battle life of weaponized metals to its tail, where these metals are recycled by Indian laborers in steel factories in Iraqi Kurdistan as a central part of the concrete industry, or where they are destroyed in burn pits in Colfax, Louisiana. At each site, people are trapped in biochemically and socially toxic relations with components of weaponized earth. By tracing the toxic exposures people face at multiple sites of metal extraction, weaponization, reuse, and disposal, this talk identifies two key points in war’s long chain of supply: 1) it identifies the many bodies and people whose lives are ravaged by warfare far from the site and dates of documented battles, and 2) it pinpoints locations in which further research may identify forensic sites of intervention in an increasingly diffuse network of corporate and contracted war-making.
Audience Focus
All grade levels
Meet the Presenter
Dr. Kali Rubaii is an assistant professor of Anthropology at Purdue University. Her work focuses on displacement, health justice, and the environmental impacts of war. Through forensic ethnography along the supply chains of war, Rubaii documents the long-term material impacts of extractive industry and military violence on people’s lives. She is leading three projects on 1) how Iraq’s concrete industry is instrumental to militarized privatization in post-war reconstruction, 2) how displaced communities travel to and from their land during episodes of military violence, and 3) how the epidemic of congenital anomalies in Fallujah is understood as a figure of long-term, intergenerational toxification.
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The Cost of Borders
2025-01-08 19:00 - 20:00
Overview
Borders, rather than markers of sovereign territory, are marketplaces comprised of always costly, and often deadly transactions. Moving from Lesbos, to Gaza, to Tijuana, the project shows how the costs of borders, patterned by inequalities of racism, sexism, and disability, fluctuate over time and space, and differ depending on who is attempting to cross.
Audience Focus
All grade levels
Meet the Presenter
Heba Gowayed (pronounced HEH-buh go-WAY-ed), is a writer and sociologist. She is an Associate Professor of Sociology at CUNY Hunter College & Graduate Center. Her research and writing centers the lives of people who migrate across borders and the unequal and often violent institutions they face.
Her award-winning book Refuge, published with Princeton University Press, takes readers into the lives of displaced Syrians who sought refuge in the US, Canada, and Germany. Their experiences reveal that these destination countries are not saviors; they can deny newcomers’ potential by failing to recognize their abilities and invest in the tools they need to prosper. She is currently working on a second book, The Cost of Borders that argues borders, rather than markers of sovereign territory, are marketplaces comprised of always costly, and often deadly transactions. Moving from Lesbos, to Gaza, to Tijuana, the project shows how the costs of borders, patterned by inequalities of racism, sexism, and disability, fluctuate over time and space, and differ depending on who is attempting to cross.
She has also been featured on NPR’s Code Switch (https://www.npr.org/2022/05/24/1101055230/how-we-decide-who-is-worthy-of-welcome), the podcast This is Hell! (https://thisishell.com/episodes/1770).
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Redlining is Only Part of the Story
2025-01-15 19:00 - 20:00
Overview
Redlining, some scholars contend, has become a “narrative crutch” that obscures a much longer history of housing discrimination. Redlining didn’t create systemic racism in American housing patterns – it sanctioned it. Vulnerable communities still feel the impacts of this profitable disinvestment in vast and far-reaching ways. The perpetuation of racist residential patterns far exceeds the reach of government actors. Public and private actors are, in many ways, equally responsible for the spaces we do and do not inhabit to this day. This session will include a deep dive into new maps and resources added to “Mapping Inequality” and other related digital humanities projects
from the University of Richmond’s Digital Scholarship Lab and New American History. Participants will have an opportunity to unpack, understand, and explore OER resources designed to help seek solutions in the modern era.
Audience Focus
All grade levels
Meet the Presenter
Annie Evans is the Director of Education and Outreach for New American History at the University of Richmond. Annie is a National Geographic Society Grosvenor Teacher Fellow, a NatGeo Certified Educator and Trainer, and Co-Coordinator of the Virginia Geographic Alliance. With over 30 years of classroom and educational leadership experience, she designs digital humanities curricula, and facilitates professional learning for K-16 teachers and museum educators, focusing on Historical Thinking Skills, GeoLiteracy, Instructional Coaching, Project-Based Learning, and Performance Assessments. She hopes New American History will inspire the next generation of public historians, history educators, and civic leaders.
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Developing Religious Literacy in the Social Studies Classroom
2025-01-22 19:00 - 20:00
Overview
Exposure to world religions is critical for students to become global citizens. This session explores legal foundations in the U.S. for teaching about religion, uses case studies to consider challenges involved in teaching this topic, and provides guidelines for classroom instruction.
Audience Focus
All grade levels
Meet the Presenter
Throughout her 28 years in education, Erika Lowery has taught MS/HS Geography, has been a Secondary Social Studies Supervisor, and is currently in her fourth year serving as a Regional Educator for the education non-profit, Institute for Curriculum Services. Erika was awarded the National Council for Geographic Education Distinguished Teaching Achievement award in 2013. She was President of TXCSS in 2018 and President of NSSSA in 2021. In 2021, Erika was honored as a Distinguished Alumnus from the College of Education at The Florida State University and in 2022 she was selected as the Texas Social Studies Supervisor of the Year. Also, in 2022, Erika was honored with the TXCSS Billy Sills Distinguished Service in Social Studies award.

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Teaching About the Cultural World Using Interactive Mapping Tools and Inquiry
2025-01-29 19:00 - 20:00
Overview
Join Joseph Kerski, geographer and educator, for a lively hands-on workshop where we explore web based maps, layers, curricular resources, and strategies for you to more effectively and engagingly teach about demographic characteristics, population change, land use, human health, consumer behavior, business locations, and other themes in cultural geography.
Audience Focus
All grade levels
Meet the Presenter
Joseph Kerski is a geographer with a focus on the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in education. He has served as the President of the National Council for Geographic Education and has given 2 TED Talks on “The Whys of Where”. He holds 3 degrees in geography (BA, MA, PhD) and has served as geographer in 4 major sectors of society, including government (NOAA, US Census Bureau, USGS), academia (University of Minnesota, Harrisburg Area Community College, Penn State University, Sinte Gleska University, University of Denver, others), private industry (as Education Manager for Esri), and nonprofit organizations (with roles in geography and education associations). Joseph has authored over 100 chapters and articles, and 200 podcasts on GIS, education, space, place, and related topics. He has visited over 350 schools and 400 universities around the world. He regularly conducts professional development for educators. He has created over 6,200 videos, 1,000 lessons, 1,000 blog essays, and authored 12 books, including Interpreting Our World, Spatial Thinking in Environmental Contexts, Essentials of the Environment, Spatial Mathematics, Tribal GIS, International Perspectives on Teaching and Learning, the GIS Guide to Public Domain Data, and others. But as a lifelong learner, he feels as though he’s just getting started and thus actively seeks mentors, partners, and collaborators.
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Geographies of Genocide: Why Geography matters in conducting Genocidal Campaigns in the Modern Era
2025-02-05 19:00 - 20:00
Overview
Geography education goes a long way in understanding why, where, and how genocides occur. In my teaching, I stress the geopolitical circumstances behind the occurrence of genocides and how the landscape adds to the uniqueness of each genocide. For this webinar, I discuss why and when to teach about genocides and human rights in Geography classrooms; demonstrate the teaching of genocides case study, regional, thematic, and other approaches; and offer lesson ideas, resources, and readings.
Audience Focus
High school/ post secondary
Meet the Presenter
Tracey H Norrell, PhD is currently a Senior Lecturer in the Geography and Sustainability Department at the University of Tennessee. She currently teaches courses in World Geography, Migration, Europe (including War and Society and Russia and its Neighbors) and two courses in Geography of Human Rights. This course over the years had to be split into two courses due to its popularity – the Americas and Africa and Europe and Asia. She is also the recipient of the 2022 National Council for Geographic Education Higher Ed Distinguished Teacher Award.
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Teaching About the physical World Using Interactive Mapping Tools and Inquiry
2025-02-12 19:00 - 20:00
Overview
Join Joseph Kerski, geographer and educator, for a lively hands-on workshop where we explore web based maps, layers, curricular resources, and strategies for you to more effectively and engagingly teach about weather, climate, ocean chemistry, landforms, river systems, ecosystems, natural hazards, coastal processes, and other themes in physical geography.
Audience Focus
All grade levels
Meet the Presenter
Joseph Kerski is a geographer with a focus on the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in education. He has served as the President of the National Council for Geographic Education and has given 2 TED Talks on “The Whys of Where”. He holds 3 degrees in geography (BA, MA, PhD) and has served as geographer in 4 major sectors of society, including government (NOAA, US Census Bureau, USGS), academia (University of Minnesota, Harrisburg Area Community College, Penn State University, Sinte Gleska University, University of Denver, others), private industry (as Education Manager for Esri), and nonprofit organizations (with roles in geography and education associations). Joseph has authored over 100 chapters and articles, and 200 podcasts on GIS, education, space, place, and related topics. He has visited over 350 schools and 400 universities around the world. He regularly conducts professional development for educators. He has created over 6,200 videos, 1,000 lessons, 1,000 blog essays, and authored 12 books, including Interpreting Our World, Spatial Thinking in Environmental Contexts, Essentials of the Environment, Spatial Mathematics, Tribal GIS, International Perspectives on Teaching and Learning, the GIS Guide to Public Domain Data, and others. But as a lifelong learner, he feels as though he’s just getting started and thus actively seeks mentors, partners, and collaborators.
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Memory & Monuments Across the Contemporary Middle East: Empires, Nations, and Environments
2025-02-26 19:00 - 20:00
Overview
How can engagements with the past both consolidate and challenge the power of state authorities? This presentation answers that question through a survey of monuments and memory across the contemporary Middle East. Drawing on case studies from places including Turkey, Egypt, Israel/Palestine, Algeria, and Saudi Arabia, this talk describes the many forms that memory can take. It argues that although some of these struggles over memory are specific to the region of the Middle East, many of the lessons they teach have much wider resonance in the context of global struggles over history, justice, and citizenship.
Audience Focus
All grade levels
Meet the Presenter
Timur Hammond is an associate professor in the Geography and the Environment Department at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. He received a Ph.D. and M.A. in geography from the University of California, Los Angeles (2016, 2010), and a B.A. in English/creative writing from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (2005). Prior to joining the faculty at Syracuse University, he worked in the Department of Geography at the University of Vermont. Trained as an urban and cultural geographer, his research draws on archival and ethnographic methods to explore the intersection between urban experience and cultural identity, with a particular focus on 20th century Turkey. He has published widely on a variety of topics, including his 2023 monograph Placing Islam: Geographies of Connection in 20th Century Istanbul, and articles on translation, the politics of memory, and the geographies of religion.
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Importance of Narratives: Incorporating AAPI Voices into the Classroom
2025-03-12 19:00 - 20:00
Overview
According to the Pew Research Center, the Asian population in the United States nearly doubled from 2000 to 2019 and yet only about 24% of those surveyed felt well informed about AAPI history in this country. Many cite the internet or social media being the primary platform of information. Without a doubt, there is a need for more education on AAPI history in this country. This session will highlight the multiplicity and heterogeneity of “Asian American” as a social and political category through the use of maps. The maps will include specific information about populations identified as Indian, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese and how the geographic clustering of these groups changed over time as a result of social, economic, or political forces. The workshop will also incorporate use of the Galtung Triangle to provide educators a framework of how to discuss injustices that may occur over time.
Audience Focus
Middle School, High School, Advanced Placement, Higher Education
Meet the Presenter
Jeanne Shin-Cooper has been a public high school educator for twenty years. Over the course of her career, she has taught multiple disciplines in the social sciences in addition to work within the field of EL. She is currently a consultant and exam reader for AP Human Geography and is a National Board Certified Teacher. She received her Masters in Education and Social Policy at Northwestern University and her Masters in Geography through the EDGE Program at University of Oregon. Currently, she serves on the Educator Advisory Committee for Harvard’s Religion and Public Life in conjunction with teaching College World Religions Dual Credit. Most recently, she was invited as a keynote speaker for Harvard University’s Global Studies Outreach Workshop.

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Climate & Community: How Local Knowledge and Power Asymmetries Influence Climate Adaptations in Sudan and the American Southwest
2025-03-19 19:00 - 20:00
Overview
Many communities across the globe are facing severe disruptions from climate-change. Large-scale projects like solar farms and seawalls often dominate the headlines, but bottom-up, community-based adaptations to climate emergencies are just as critical. Local mobilizations drawing on traditional knowledge and bonds of solidarity can help populations across the globe to mitigate the harsh consequences of climate change. Drawing on their research in Sudan and in the American Southwest, these scholars examine how power relations, local knowledge, communal ties, and legacies of violence shape and inform responses to climate emergencies.
Audience Focus
All grade levels
Meet the Presenter
Malathe Ahmed, Ph.D., will shed light on the traditional flood management system used by the community of Tuti Island in Khartoum, Sudan, known as the Taya system. This traditional approach plays a crucial role in minimizing vulnerabilities and enhancing the community’s ability to manage the impacts of climate change, as well as to cope with other crises, including armed conflict.
Lucas Belury will focus on the Rio Grande Valley at the southern tip of the Texas-Mexico border. The Rio Grande Valley is a cultural heartland that contains thousands of informal colonia communities vulnerable to flooding. This presentation will explore how colonia communities come together to survive through collaboration, neighborliness, and generosity.
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Experiential Learning
2025-03-25 19:00 - 20:00
Overview
In this webinar we will travel through time and understanding to examine the ideas of Experiential Learning: What is it? Who defined it? Where do I find it? How do I apply it in my teaching? We will examine two examples that the speaker has been involved in and how they might help you develop Experiential Learning in your classrooms. The speaker will share a little bit about his two books on Experiential Learning in Geography, and finally we wrap things up with a Q/A time.
Audience Focus
All Grade Levels
Meet the Presenter

Jonathan Wessell
Grand Valley State University
MA in Geography, Western Michigan University

Jonathan Wessell is an instructor of Geography for the past 26 years. He is currently at Grand Valley State University and Glen Oaks Community College in Michigan. Mr. Wessell has been actively involved over the past 12 years with the AAG and served his colleagues for a decade in the Geography Education Specialty Group on the executive committee for the past 8 years. He was active in starting a poster competition and advanced the connection with AP Human Geography teacher by providing a day long PD opportunity during the AAG Annual Meetings. For several years he has remained active in chairing sessions on professional development in Geography and Experiential Learning in Geography. These activities have led Mr. Wessell to being the Chief editor of two books with his colleagues on Experiential Learning in Geography (2021 and 2025). Mr. Wessell has also served as a reviewer for the journals: Professional Geographer and The Geography Teacher. Recently, He was elected to the Board of Directors foe NCGE, and is currently working on a Young Scholar Research Symposium. Mr. Wessell plans to continue his research efforts in Experiential Learning and his work with pre-service teachers. He will do this through teaching and leading experiential opportunities around the world.
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The AP Exam: Tips and Tricks to Prepare Students
2025-06-03 19:00 - 20:00
Overview
In partnership with College Board, this webinar will provide strategies and ideas to help prepare your students for the AP exam. There will be McQ strategies, review of the FRQ task verbs and an overview of the exam itself.
Audience Focus
AP Human Geography and High School
Meet the Presenter
Charlotte Haney has been teaching AP Human Geography at the #1 Ranked high school in Texas. She serves as Human Geography District Lead for Houston Independent School District, the 4th largest district in the United States. She has had the pleasure of working with the team developing a project based curriculum for AP Human Geography and is always excited to work with teachers to support their students’ success.
Laura Massa was born and raised in Argentina where she got her university degree in Geography from the University of Buenos Aires. She worked at the United Nations Development Program assisting the Project Director in research and data analysis, and taught at the University of Buenos Aires and at many private schools. In 2002 she earned a Master’s degree in Latin American Studies at FIU/LACC. She teaches World History, AP Human Geography and Women’s Studies at Palmer Trinity School where she also taught Latin American History.
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APHG Bellringers: How to Apply in the Classroom
2025-08-14 19:00 - 20:00
Summary
Tips and Tricks from classroom teachers on how to use the Bell Ringers in your AP Human Geography class. Bellringers can also be used in any on-level World Geography course.
About the Presenters
Laura Kmetz teaches APHG in Dallas, TX at Booker T. Washington High School, where she is the Social Studies Department Chair. She is the author of the NCGE Bellringers, a consultant for College Board, and a leader at the AP Reading. Laura loves engaging students in exploring our complex world and helping them figure out what they can do to make the world a better place.

Ryan Conway teaches at Glen Allen High School in Richmond, VA and is starting his 24th year as a classroom teacher. He is also the Director of the Center for Education and Human Development, a specialty center/magnet program within Henrico County. He has taught World History, US History, AP Government, AP Psychology, and for the first time last year AP Human Geography. Ryan loves to learn and teach new content and was excited about the opportunity to teach 9th graders APHG. It was a challenging but rewarding year of learning together with his students!

Carla Ingram teaches AP Human Geography, AP World History, and Honors/Standard World History at South Caldwell High School in Hudson, NC. She loves reading and traveling both of which help her liven up her classroom! Just this summer she made it to her 50th state, Rhode Island!

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Population: What charts, Graphs, and Diagrams can tell us!
2025-09-17 19:00 - 20:00
Overview
In this webinar you will be introduced to four charts, graphs and diagrams to discuss the majority of population content. Jonathan Wessell will apply his 27 years experience at the college level in Cultural and World Regional Geography when discussing POPULATION. His favorite, which you will find-out, is the Demographic Transition. His students always gasp when they learn that he experienced a 16 week course on just this diagram. There will be time for questions and you are encouraged to bring questions.
Audience Focus
All grade levels
Meet the Presenter
Jonathan Wessell is an instructor of Geography for the past 26 years. He is currently at Grand Valley State University and Glen Oaks Community College in Michigan. Mr. Wessell has been actively involved over the past 12 years with the AAG and served his colleagues for a decade in the Geography Education Specialty Group on the executive committee for the past 8 years. He was active in starting a poster competition and advanced the connection with AP Human Geography teacher by providing a day long PD opportunity during the AAG Annual Meetings. For several years he has remained active in chairing sessions on professional development in Geography and Experiential Learning in Geography. These activities have led Mr. Wessell to being the Chief editor of two books with his colleagues on Experiential Learning in Geography (2021 and 2025). Mr. Wessell has also served as a reviewer for the journals: Professional Geographer and The Geography Teacher. Recently, He was elected to the Board of Directors foe NCGE, and is currently working on a Young Scholar Research Symposium. Mr. Wessell plans to continue his research efforts in Experiential Learning and his work with pre-service teachers. He will do this through teaching and leading experiential opportunities around the world.
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QGIS - An Online Mapping Option For All
2025-10-01 19:00 - 20:00
Overview
QGIS is a free open-source mapping tool. This webinar will dive into its key elements and how to apply it in a geography classroom.
Audience Focus
All grade levels
Meet the Presenter
Jen Mapes is Assistant Professor of Geography at Kent State University, where she directs the Community Geography Lab, which makes maps for and with the local community. She’s the author of The New American Small Town: Lessons for Sustainable Urban Futures. Jen is a former (& future?) APHG reader.

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