Tag: Geography

Olympic architecture and a lost opportunity in Sochi

March 6, 2014

Fireworks over the Fisht Olympic Stadium in Sochi, Russia, during the 2014 Winter Olympics. BY KATHLEEN JAMES-CHAKRABORTYProfessor of art history at University College Dublin After last week’s closing ceremony of the Sochi Winter Olympics, many of the athletic performances will be remembered for a long time; not so the architecture. The Winter Olympics seldom produce … More Olympic architecture and a lost opportunity in Sochi

War, poverty, and the War on Poverty: 50 years later

February 26, 2014

President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Poverty Bill (also known as the Economic Opportunity Act) on Aug. 20, 1964, while press and supporters of the bill look on. LBJ Library photo by Cecil Stoughton, available via Creative Commons. BY JENNA M. LOYDAssistant professor of public health policy and administration, Joseph J. Zilber School of Public … More War, poverty, and the War on Poverty: 50 years later

“People are born here and only leave here when they die": On forced land eviction in Salvador, Brazil.

November 1, 2013

View of Gamboa de Baixo, a neighborhood in the Brazilian city of Salvador, Bahia, which is known for its Afro-Brazilian culture and street carnival. It is also known as Brazil’s “capital of happiness.” BY KEISHA-KHAN Y. PERRYAssistant professor of Africana studies at Brown University Gamboa de Baixo is a neighborhoodin the northeastern Brazilian cityof Salvador, … More “People are born here and only leave here when they die": On forced land eviction in Salvador, Brazil.

Space, identity, and Turkish Berlin

September 25, 2013

Photograph by the author. BY ANNIKA HINZEAssistant professor of political science at Fordham University Identity is an incredibly complex concept. Each and every one of us is shaped by a myriad of different identities—individual and personal identities, such as the sports and foods that we like, and group identities, which can be related to different … More Space, identity, and Turkish Berlin

Not capitalism 2.0 or 3.0, but a whole new operating system

August 7, 2013

This illustration by Adam Turnbull is featured in Take Back the Economy. By J.K. Gibson-Graham, Jenny Cameron, and Stephen Healy The task of imagining and enacting a new economy is one that is being taken up by a growing number of people around the world, as our new book Take Back the Economy: An Ethical … More Not capitalism 2.0 or 3.0, but a whole new operating system

Hot Spotter’s Report: Imagining alternate possibilities in a world in which toxicity and exposure are not the exception but the rule.

July 10, 2013

U.S. Department of Energy radiation hot spot detection equipment utilized at Rocky Flats, Colorado. Courtesy of the U.S. Department of Energy. BY SHILOH R. KRUPARAssistant professor of culture and politics at Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University Growing up near two major plutonium processing facilities (Hanford, WA, and Rocky Flats, CO) … More Hot Spotter’s Report: Imagining alternate possibilities in a world in which toxicity and exposure are not the exception but the rule.

How the great North Woods became such a huge tourist attraction—through planning and of course, obstacles in the road.

April 24, 2013

A party of four women canoeing near an island on Burntside Lake, August 4, 1940. Here, author Aaron Shapiro recalls his own memorable North Woods experiences and elaborates on the efforts and collaboration that went into making the area such a popular tourist destination. (Believe it or not, north-Midwesterners, this weather will be ours once … More How the great North Woods became such a huge tourist attraction—through planning and of course, obstacles in the road.

Counterfeit capitalism and the neomelodica scene in Naples

December 19, 2012

Street scene near Galleria Umberto, a public shopping gallery in Naples, southern Italy. Here, author Jason Pine discusses the city’s neomelodica music scene that makes celebrities out of young singers—and the politics of gaining such fame. BY JASON PINEAssistant professor of anthropology and media, society, and the arts at Purchase College, State University of New … More Counterfeit capitalism and the neomelodica scene in Naples

Lots of UMP authors talking at #AAG2012

February 24, 2012

The annual meeting of the Association of American Geographers kicks off today in New York City (Twitter hashtag: #AAG2012). Bringing together cultural and human geographers, GIS scholars, geography professionals, and scholars from disciplines as diverse as American studies, anthropology, political science, and communication, the conference promises to be a synthesis of the most cutting edge … More Lots of UMP authors talking at #AAG2012

"This sounds dramatic, and it’s intended to be": Why imagining ourselves as "outside" of nature does more harm than good.

February 8, 2012

The Hall of Biodiversity at the American Museum of Natural History in New York is, as Stephanie Rutherford argues in Governing the Wild, a manifestation of green governmentality that seeks to define and regulate our understanding, experience, and treatment of nature. BY STEPHANIE RUTHERFORDAssistant professor in the environmental and resource studies program at Trent University … More "This sounds dramatic, and it’s intended to be": Why imagining ourselves as "outside" of nature does more harm than good.