Unite the APHG Curriculum with Six Place Processes
2024-10-19 16:00 - 16:30 (America/Phoenix) | Mission Palms Conference Room: Covetto, 60 E 5th St., Arizona, 85281
Overview
Human geography courses tend to be compartmentalized into distinct topics, such as the geography of migration, religion, linguistics, politics, land use, agriculture, urbanization, and economics. This segmented approach, akin to a “grand tour,” can hinder learners’ abilities to recognize overlaps among geographic phenomena. Spatial thinking is frequently cited as a key tool for making connections in Advanced Placement Human Geography (APHG). While spatial thinking is useful for discerning patterns across space, it falls short in helping to explain the diverse processes that underlie people-place relations. I propose incorporating David Seamon’s six place processes–interaction, identity, release, realization, intensification, and creation–into the APHG curriculum. Specifically, I illustrate how each APHG unit can be framed according to the six place processes, offering a holistic understanding of human geography.
Session Focus
APHG | Place | Spatial Thinking | Curriculum and Instruction
Conference Room
Covetto
Meet the Presenter
Thomas Larsen is 2024 President of the National Council for Geographic Education (NCGE). He serves as Co-Coordinator of the Geographic Alliance of Iowa (GAI) and teaches geography at the University of Northern Iowa.

Tales & Travels: First Chapter Friday
2024-10-19 16:00 - 16:30 (America/Phoenix) | Mission Palms Conference Room: San Pedro, 60 E 5th St., Tempe, Arizona, 85281
Overview
Embark on a global storytelling journey! World Geography meets middle grade books through First Chapter Friday. Students make real-world connections through weekly reads that have a setting in a current region of study. The World Geography curriculum shines through weekly read-alouds while fostering inclusivity and a love for books.
Session Focus
Middle School/Junior High | World Geography | Literature | World/International
Conference Room
San Pedro
Meet the Presenter
Kelly Zander Patterson, is in her tenth year of teaching at Charlotte Country Day School, however she has been teaching for a total of thirteen years. She was born and raised in Columbia, South Carolina. She is a graduate of the College of Charleston, where she received her History and Secondary Education degrees. She is a wife, mother, and sister, who enjoys spending time with family. She loves to read, bake, and she also has a passion for entertaining, whether it’s organizing a small impromptu get-together, or hosting a large social gathering. She enjoy the details of personalized stationery, beautiful gift wrap, and a handwritten note. She is currently teaching and advising seventh grade students, while also serving as the chair of the Social Studies Department at the Middle School.

Lessons Learned from Creating a Local Atlas
2024-10-19 16:00 - 16:30 (America/Phoenix) | Mission Palms Conference Room: Colonnade, 60 E 5th St., Tempe, Arizona, 85281
Overview
A resource geographer, a cartographer, and an educator collaborated to make an atlas of a local watershed as a tool for geographic education. This project addresses declining geographic literacy and the homogenization of geographic products and school curricula. The fifteen maps help illustrate key terms of geographic literacy and prompt discussion of compelling dilemmas of managing resources and human needs in the complex dynamic of culture, environment, and physical systems. The companion narratives promote critical thinking about local issues. Written at grade 10 literacy level, the atlas is meant to function as both a geographic education tool in secondary education venues, but also to provide basic watershed-scale geographic information that is accessible to citizens, local government and resource managers within the watershed. Of interest to educators and civic groups is the template to generate similar products for place-based education in other locations.
Session Focus
Higher Education | Place-based | Literacy/STEM
Conference Room
Colonnade
Presenters
Gina Bloodsworth and Naomi Petersen, Professor, Central Washington University

How High Impact, Career, and Experiential Learning Opportunities Support Geography Students
2024-10-19 16:45 - 17:15 (America/Phoenix) | Mission Palms Conference Room: Xavier
Overview
This project explores the ways in which faculty and undergraduate students at a midsize- regional comprehensive university in eastern Colorado have found ways to partner with U.S. parks and protected areas through firsthand, experiential learning and career-based workshops. We use data from ten years of partnerships with Colorado and Arizona parks to illustrate the ways in which our largely first-generation student population has benefited from community-engaged research with the park service and ultimately influenced their future career trajectories beyond graduation. We acknowledge that high, impact experiential learning opportunities may create more liability and risk for faculty and staff at resource-strapped institutions, but that they can also lead to follow-on synergies that benefit both campuses and students in unanticipated ways. We share ten years of qualitative data from program assessment as a tool for other institutions who want to create engaged experiences of their own.
Session Focus
Higher Education | Experiential education, high impact practices, field geography | Curriculum and Instruction
Conference Room
Xavier
Meet the Presenter
Karen Barton is a Professor of Geography, GIS, and Sustainability at the University of Northern Colorado. Her work focuses on community resilience in marine and agricultural communities in the wake of global environmental change. With support from Fulbright and NEH, she published, “Africa’s Joola Shipwreck: Causes and Consequences of a Humanitarian Disaster,” which investigates the second greatest maritime shipwreck in non-wartime history. She is a member of Homeward Bound, a global leadership initiative for women in science. Barton currently serves as a Fellow of the Explorers Club, the Royal Geographical Society, and past President of Fulbright Colorado.

GIS in the Community: Giving students practical experience while making meaningful community connect
2024-10-19 16:45 - 17:15 (America/Phoenix) | Mission Palms Conference Room: Dolores
Overview
As part of the Department of Geography and Sustainability at UTK GIST curriculum, we offer an elective 400-level course titled GIS in the Community. This is a community engaged learning course in which students are exposed to challenges facing local community organizations. They then work collaboratively with the organizations, using their expertise and drawing on their collective understanding of interdisciplinary perspectives to plan, develop and implement a GIS project that satisfies the needs of a community organization. Our students have had the opportunity to collaborate with a variety of state and local agencies, as well as with non-profit organizations and research groups. This presentation will aim to explain the importance of community engaged learning as part of the educational experience of any student and how GIS software and products assist to achieve meaningful connections with local community organizations.
Session Focus
All Grade Levels | Community Engaged Learning| GIS
Conference Room
Dolores
Meet the Parents
Mayra Román-Rivera is a coastal geomorphologist specializing in post-storm recovery and remote sensing and GIS applications of coastal environments. Her research focuses on understanding changes that occur in the coast over time (i.e. erosion, accretion, sea-level rise), how they change the landscapes, how they affect communities and people, and how, if possible, can those changes be mitigated. She also participates in community outreach and citizen science programs. She believes it is our responsibility as scientists to take what we have learned through research to the communities and help them become more resilient and better prepared to face changes happening in their communities. As part of that interest, She works in the incorporation of community-engaged learning in the courses she teaches.

Where it's at: Interpreting Marine Biological Research for Creating Geographic Education Activities
2024-10-19 16:45 - 17:15 (America/Phoenix) | Mission Palms Coference Room: Joshua Tree
Overview
Marine biological research activities provide a rich and engaging basis for geographic educational activities with a strong foundation in STEM content. In this presentation, learning activities based on marine biological research are described, as activities conducted in field and lab were documented and delivered to audiences from pre-K students to professionals. Multiple research activities conducted with scientists from NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, San Diego State University, State of California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and other organizations, provided the data and experiential content for engaging students in both passive and active, student-centered, learning activities. Research technologies applied included GIS, GPS, satellite, UAS/drone; piloted aircraft; small boat and ship platforms; and various observation and data collection techniques. Research subjects addressed included the presence and movements of dolphins, whales, sharks, tuna, and marine schooling fish. A centerpiece in the geographic narrative is, of course, the map. In addition, the richness of data and its use for inquiry and summary can lead aspiring geographers into statistics, charting, photographic and image analysis; photogrammetry, and other pursuits. The key thread among all these considerations is the geographic narrative with emphasis understanding our living Earth from a spatial perspective.
Session Focus
All Grade Levels | STEM | Interpretation | Narrative | Technology
Conference Room
Joshua Tree
Meet the Presenter
Alex G. Kesaris, B.S., M.A., GISP, is a volunteer educator who loves presenting geographic knowledge
through narratives about the research with which he is most familiar. He has conducted field research
from shore, small boats, ships, and aircraft with scientists from SDSU, UCSD SIO, NOAA, and CDFW.
Along the way, he developed and delivered educational activities, posters, presentations, technical
memoranda, and peer-reviewed publications for diverse audiences. For the past 12 years, Alex has
provided GIS services with Sustenant, CDFW, GISinc, Axim Geospatial, and NV5 Geospatial.

Joining the Mapping Revolution
2024-10-19 16:45 - 17:15 (America/Phoenix) | All Grade Levels | STEM | Mapping
Overview
TeenMaptivists is a national student organization where students contribute data in OpenStreetMap all around the world. Students are learning the power of the map and making a difference one edit at a time. Come learn more how your students can become part of the mapping revolution!
Session Focus

Secondary/High School | Mapping, Activism, Community | STEM
Conference Room
Colonnade
Meet the Presenter
Greg Hill has enjoyed a twenty-six-year career in education. He teaches High School AP Human Geography,World Regional Geography, and African-American Studies in Mesquite, Texas. Mr. Hill began his Social Studies teaching career as a World History teacher in Dallas Public Schools. He is also currently a Graduate student of Geography at Marshall University focusing on Urban Geography, Latin America, and the African Diaspora. He is the 2016 recipient of the Distinguished Educator Award: K-12 from the National Council for Geographic Education. He is also the 2020 recipient of the International Educator of the Year Award from the World Affairs Council of Dallas-Ft. Worth. At Horn High, Greg sponsors the Global Young Leaders and coaches the Current Events Team.

Celeste Reynolds has enjoyed a twenty one year career in education at Mashpee Middle High School, in Mashpee, MA. She teaches AP Human Geography, Women’s Studies, US History, Current Events, and is the coordinator for Senior Seminar. Celeste was awarded American Geographical Society Teacher Fellow in 2016, 2017 & 2019, the recipient of the Massachusetts Council for the Social Studies John Reilly Award for Excellence in Teaching Geography 2018, and awarded in 2020 the National Council Geographic Education Distinguished K-12 Teacher. Celeste is also an Advanced Placement reader for College Board, a member of the steering committee of TeachOSM, a Teacher Advisory Board Member for American Geographical Society, and serves on the Board of Directors for National Council Geographic Education.

Double Displacement: Unlikely Intersection of Americans
2024-10-19 16:45 - 17:15 (America/Phoenix) | Mission Palms Conference Room: Covetto, 60 E 5th St., Arizona, 85281
Overview
During WWII, President Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066 resulted in approximately 125,000 people of Japanese ancestry to be forcibly removed from their homes on the West Coast, then incarcerated in government-built concentration camps. Two of the ten War Relocation Camps were located in Arizona, notably on American Indian reservation lands. 13,000+ incarcerees were “relocated” to the Rivers confinement site on the Gila River Indian Reservation, with 18,000 sent to Poston located on the Colorado River Indian Reservation. Through the analysis of primary and secondary sources, including multimedia and maps, participants explore the intersecting histories and geographical perspectives of Japanese Americans imprisoned in these camps and the Indigenous communities on whose lands the U.S. government built them. This culturally responsive lesson appeals to educators of Geography, US History, and AP Human Geography, serving as a case study for Population, Migration and Political Geography.
Session Focus
Secondary/High School | Place-based | Cultures | Migration | U.S. History
Conference Room
Covetto
Meet the Presenter
A self-proclaimed “geofanatic” with 30+ years in education, Jeannine Kuropatkin teaches World History/Geography and Holocaust Studies at Red Mountain High School in Mesa, Arizona. As a coach for the Model UN Team and as the campus liaison with both the Sister Cities Mesa, Youth Ambassador Exchange Program and Global Ties Arizona, Jeannine promotes student awareness of global connections as well as opportunities for citizen diplomacy and travel abroad. Participation in two Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad (Morocco and Indonesia) and teacher fellowships in Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Bahrain, UAE, Qatar, and the US Territories (Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands), have allowed Jeannine to share authentic cultural experiences in the classroom and at teacher workshops. An avid curriculum writer, Jeannine’s Geography and History lessons are published on websites such as PBS Learning Media, Arizona Geographic Alliance, University of Arizona’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Fred T Korematsu Institute, GeoCivics Project, as well as in the journal, “The Geography Teacher.” Jeannine actively embraces leadership roles in Social Studies Education, serving as the current Vice President of the Arizona Council for the Social Studies (ACSS), long-standing Teacher Consultant with the Arizona Geographic Alliance (AzGA), and member of the Holocaust Education Advisory Committee for the Arizona Jewish Historical Society. Jeannine has received the NCGE Distinguished Teaching Award, Herff-Jones/Nystrom & NCGE Lesson Plan Award, and NCGE/CRAM Award for Exemplary Classroom Lesson. She is also a three-time recipient of the Great Moments in Teaching Social Studies Award, as well as the Isidore Starr Distinguished Social Studies Teacher Award from the Arizona Council of Social Studies. Jeannine was selected for the City of Mesa, Martin Luther King Jr. “Educator of the Year” Award.
Courtney Peagler is Vice President and Director of Education for the Fred T. Korematsu Institute in San Francisco, CA. A mixed-race descendant of Japanese Americans forced to leave their homes in California during WWII, she is committed to ensuring this shameful history is not forgotten and that its lessons are applied to the fight for social justice for all. Prior to joining the Institute, she was on the Advisory Committee and served as a docent for the exhibition “Then They Came for Me: Incarceration of Japanese Americans During WWII and the Demise of Civil Liberties” in the Presidio, San Francisco. A parent of two, she is an active board member at Daruma No Gakko, a non profit, co-op, parent-run summer program designed for elementary-aged children to learn about Japanese American heritage. She also serves on the Council of Friends of the Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley. In addition to these roles, Courtney is a partner with her husband at Year 26 Consulting, where they provide strategic advisory, execution, and project management services to mission-based organizations. Previously, Courtney was on the executive management team at a New York-based education technology company and worked in a variety of roles in both for-profit and non-profit organizations. She has been designing and facilitating learning experiences for adults in a variety of professions, from nurses to university educators for over a decade. Her prior experience also includes instructional design for both online and live learning experiences, the evaluation of emerging technologies for education, assisting educators in their use of technology, website design and development, and media production. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Harvard and her MA in Educational Communication and Technology from New York University’s Steinhardt School of Education.

Grant Skinner is the Social Studies Content Specialist for the Phoenix Union High School District (PXU). He has worked for PXU for 23 years spending 19 years in the classroom as a Social Studies teacher and Instructional Leader. He has extensive experience in writing and developing curriculum. This includes Culturally Relevant U.S. History courses from the perspectives of Mexican Americans, Native Americans, African Americans, and a Navajo Government course. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Communication from the University of New Mexico and his MA in Curriculum and Instruction from Ottawa University.

The “Space Time Continuum”: GeoHistoGram Style
2024-10-19 16:45 - 17:15 (America/Phoenix) | Mission Palms Conference Room: San Pedro, 60 E 5th St., Tempe, Arizona, 85281
Overview
Timelines provide students with a look at chronology. Maps allow students to observe spatial information. The GeoHistoGram provides educators with a resource that puts spatial information and chronological information all in one place for students. In this session, participants will experience the GeoHistoGram, completing several different classroom activities utilizing the GeoHistoGram in different ways. Participants will leave the session with several, classroom ready activities to use with students. Participants will also have the opportunity to see the Michigan Geographic Alliance website and the variety of other GeoHistoGram resources.
Session Focus
Middle School/Junior High | Resource | Curriculum | World History
Conference Room
San Pedro
Meet the Presenter
Cynthia Bloom is an experienced Middle School educator and member of the Michigan Geographic Alliance. A seasoned presenter, she enjoys sharing her knowledge with other educators at local, state, and national levels. Her time with the Alliance has led to several rewarding opportunities, including a Teacher Excellence Award for American Councils, with an exchange experience in Tajikistan, as well as a 2019 Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship which included an amazing expedition to the British and Irish Isles.

GeoCircle: Projects through Geographic Inquiry
2024-10-22 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Webinar
Summary:
Explore ideas for projects in on-level World Geography and AP Human Geography. Join the discussion of how the Geographic Inquiry process can help create projects for students. Using the Geographic Inquiry process encourages the students to use a geographic lens when researching geographic topics.
About the Facilitator
Rik Katz has had the honor of learning and teaching Geography for 30 years first at Washington Middle School for 14 years in World Geography, and then Roosevelt High School here in Seattle with APHG for the last 15 before he retired last year. He has been honored to lead and learn at geography workshops here in the PNW, at NCGE, at AAG, AP Readings and the IGU. Katz also presented research two times in Korea, was honored with NCGE Geography Teacher of the year in 2015. He has also taught social studies as an adjunct at Antioch University form 14 years.
Session Access
GeoCircle sessions are free and open access to any educator. Find out more and Join the Circle Session click HERE

Displacement and Belonging
2024-10-30 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Webinar
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 (America/New_York) | Webinar
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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GeoCircle: Best Strategies for Teaching Political Geography
2024-11-19 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
Overview
Welcome to our GeoCircle for The Best Strategies for teaching Political Geography. We hope you will join us for a great chat on how to engage students and deliver content. Whether you are teaching on-level Geography in Middle School or High School or teaching AP Human Geography, this topic is always challenging. Come to gain new ideas for content and/or share your best strategies. Come ready to participate so we can all help one another. See you soon!
About the Facilitator
Jeanne Shin-Cooper is an AP Human Geography teacher at Buffalo Grove High School, located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. Serving as an educational consultant and exam reader for the course, she has experience helping new and seasoned teachers across the country develop curriculum. Having traveled to over 25 countries, she has witnessed various geopolitical issues and border conflicts, including a visit to Panmunjom situated between North and South Korea. Her favorite lesson to teach in Unit 4 is Topic 4.4, Types of Political Boundaries.
Matt Poleski has been teaching for 15 years at his alma mater, including 13 years teaching AP Human Geography. He graduated with his teaching degree from the University of Nevada – Las Vegas (UNLV) and earned his master’s degree in GIS from Elmhurst College in Illinois. He has been an AP Reader for seven years and also taught as an adjunct professor at Elmhurst College for five years. He is passionate about incorporating technology into the classroom and creating opportunities for his students to “do” geography. He belongs to the Geographic Alliance in Nevada (GAIN), National Council for Geographic Education (NCGE) and American Geographic Society (AGS) and served as one of the AGS Teacher Fellows in 2019 and 2024.
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Toxic Supply Chains of War in Iraq
2024-12-11 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Webinar
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 (America/New_York) | Webinar
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 (America/New_York) | Webinar
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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GeoCircle: Spatial Patterns of Ethnicity – Exploring Neighborhoods and the Legacy of Redlining
2025-01-21 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Webinar
Topics for discussion:
Bring your idea, applications and questions Mapping Tools: How can we use mapping tools like Google Maps and Mapping Inequality to better understand ethnic neighborhoods and the legacy of redlining? How can these tools support students in visualizing spatial patterns of ethnicity and migration? Redlining’s Impact: How do we effectively teach students about the history of redlining and its lasting effects on neighborhoods? How can we help students recognize these patterns in their own cities? Engaging with Real-World Issues: Redlining and migration are still significant issues today. How can we make these topics relevant for students, helping them connect past policies to current urban inequality? Teaching Migration and Urban Issues: Considering our various teaching contexts (AP Human Geography, IB Geography, middle school), what strategies have worked in your classrooms to address migration patterns, urban inequality, and the cultural aspects of ethnic neighborhoods?
About the Facilitator
Jaela Vazquez – As an AP Human Geography teacher at Coral Reef Senior High School in Miami, Florida, she brings over 20 years of experience, including 13 years in AP Human Geography. An AP Reader and member of the AP Human Geography Test Development Committee, she is committed to advancing geography education. As an AGS Teacher Fellow and professional development leader in Miami-Dade County, she supports teachers in delivering innovative curriculum.In her classroom, geography comes alive through real-world projects like mapping urban heat islands, fieldwork on gentrification, and managing initiatives such as Cuda Closet and a school pantry in a food desert. These hands-on experiences make geography relevant, encouraging students to think critically and engage with their community.
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Developing Religious Literacy in the Social Studies Classroom
2025-01-22 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Webinar
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 (America/New_York) | Webinar
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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GeoCircle: Translate Your Travels to the Classroom
2025-02-04 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
Overview
When geography educators travel, they embark on more than just a vacation. They are doing research! In this GeoCircles discussion, we explore methods for finding the teaching moments while “at-large.” We provide meaningful ways to organize and apply these lessons to the classroom.
About the Facilitator
Thomas Larsen is Past President of the National Council for Geographic Education (NCGE). He serves as Co-Coordinator of the Geographic Alliance of Iowa (GAI) and teaches geography at the University of Northern Iowa.

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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 (America/New_York) | Webinar
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 (America/New_York) | Webinar
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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GeoCircle: Teaching Urban Geography, Urban Trends and Contemporary Urban Challenges
2025-02-18 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
Overview
Join us for an informal conversation about teaching urban geography. Bring your questions, challenges, ideas and resources to share.
About the Facilitator(s):
Pamela Wolfe has been teaching for 44 years at the same school- Yeshiva of Greater Washington in Silver Spring MD. She started off teaching French and AP European History, took on AP Human Geography the first year it was offered, and fell in love with the course. She ran workshops and Summer Institutes for College Board for many years, still does the Reading, and works on textbooks, study guides and websites for various publishers.

Jay Bennish has been teaching geography and history for 25 years in the Cherry Creek Public School district, located in Metro Denver. After completing his undergraduate course work at Northern Arizona University, he attended The University of Denver’s Josef Korbel School of International Studies, earning his Maters in Global Studies. He has been teaching AP Human Geography for 15 years and is a regular participant at the AP Reading.

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Memory & Monuments Across the Contemporary Middle East: Empires, Nations, and Environments
2025-02-26 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Webinar
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 (America/New_York) | Webinar
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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GeoCircle: Interactive Mapping Technology to Use in the Classroom
2025-03-18 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
Overview:
Join us for an information discussion and ideas about using interactive mapping technologies in all levels of Geography classes. Bring your ideas and questions. Everyone is welcome to join!

About the Facilitator
Celeste Reynolds has enjoyed a 23-year career in education at Mashpee Middle High School in Mashpee, MA. She currently teaches AP Human Geography and serves as the coordinator for Senior Seminar. Celeste is an Advanced Placement reader for College Board, an AP Consultant, and a member of the TeachOSM steering committee. She is also a co-founder and faculty member of TeenMaptivists, a Teacher Advisory Board member for the American Geographical Society, and serves on the Board of Directors for the National Council for Geographic Education (NCGE), where she was recently elected President-Elect. Celeste is passionate about integrating new mapping technologies into her classroom, helping students explore geospatial tools that can shape their future careers.

Jessica Flaich is a former APHG teacher, now-turned graduate student at the University of South Carolina, where she works with the South Carolina Geographic Alliance in providing engaging and relevant professional development to SC K-12 geography teachers. In her free time, Jessica enjoys a slew of textile art related hobbies and is current working on an embroidered quilt map.

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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 (America/New_York) | Webinar
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 (America/New_York) | Webinar
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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GeoCircle: Teaching Geography to Young People: Tips and Resources for K12 Pre-service Teachers and Teacher Educators
2025-04-16 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
Overview
Are you a future K12 teacher or teacher educator who is interested in advancing the teaching of geography? If so, this GeoCircles conversation is for you! We will discuss the significance of geographic thinking in the social studies, the importance of place connection, active involvement in stewardship, and the role geography can play in students’ understanding of, and action in, their local communities. Resources for improving your knowledge of geography and ideas for geographic-oriented projects at all grade levels will be showcased, so come prepared to share your favorites.
About the Facilitators
Kelly León is an Assistant Professor of Social Studies Education at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay (UWGB). Prior to moving to UWGB, she worked for nineteen years as a social studies teacher in a large urban school district in southern California. She led efforts to reconceptualize and update her district’s required 9th grade human geography course and also taught human geography for many years. Kelly completed her undergraduate degree, bilingual teaching credential, and M.E.d in Policy Studies in Language & Cross-Cultural Education at San Diego State University and is finishing her PhD in Education for Social Justice at the University of San Diego. Kelly is passionate about the role geography can play in a young person’s education and issues related to educational justice.
Thomas Herman is a Research Fellow in the Geography Department at San Diego State University, Director of the California Geographic Alliance, and Program Director for the California Global Education Project. In addition to 16 years of teaching at the University level, he has experience designing and leading teacher professional learning programs, developing curriculum resources, and advocating for geography education in K12 at local, state, and federal levels.

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The AP Exam: Tips and Tricks to Prepare Students
2025-06-03 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Webinar
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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