The “smugness” of geographers: Dismantling the caricatures of philosophies in Human and Physical Geography

Inkpen, Robert

doi:10.1111/area.12399

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 15 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Thus in physics, Rovelli (2014) uses ‘lesson’ as the term to describe his seven subjects (relativity, quantum mechanics, cosmos architecture, particles, quantum gravity, probability and black holes, ourselves), but are these not also concepts? Other terms used include big ideas (Harlen, 2015) and key ideas or canons (as employed by Lester King, 1953, and cited by Inkpen, 2018).…”

Section: Concepts In Physical Geography and The Sciencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

A hierarchical framework for concepts in physical geography

Gregory

Lewin

2018

Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The word concept is widely used in physical geography but seldom defined. Developing from an earlier proposal of concept types in geomorphology, this paper considers a structure for categorising concepts in physical geography in the light of sciences and philosophy more generally. It reviews where our concepts derive from, and their relation to kinds, universals and categories, whilst also indicating the lack of an agreed clear distinction between them. Because an unstructured diversity of concepts has previously been proposed in physical geography by different authors, a new provisional hierarchy is constructed. This is cognisant of specific developments in a range of disciplines, including formal concept analysis, lattice theory and hierarchy theory. A ‘concept of concepts’ hierarchy of six categories is proposed in which multidisciplinary (superordinate, contextual meta-concepts) and fundamental, operational and ancillary categories provide a 6 × 5 framework. This enables attention to be focused on stimulating conceptual underpinnings that can be tested at different levels in future learning, teaching and research. This can support the formation of knowledge structures and monitoring procedures that keep in step with ways that are characterising other disciplines.

show abstract

Section: Concepts In Physical Geography and The Sciencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

A hierarchical framework for concepts in physical geography

Gregory

Lewin

2018

Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Couper () asks why textbook authorship is less visible than some other forms of writing, in the context of the symbolic economy and audit regimes in which British universities are situated. Inkpen () focuses on the relational economy of Human and Physical Geography in British universities in the context of his experience writing editions of the textbook Science, philosophy and physical geography and its reception. Ramdas et al.…”

Section: School–university and “Truth Spots”mentioning

confidence: 99%

Geography textbooks, pedagogy and disciplinary traditions

Sidaway

Hall

2017

Area

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We consider Geography textbooks in the context of discussions of canonicity, disciplinary histories and genre. Our paper, an introduction to the set that follows, presents an argument about the importance of textbooks and the shifting relationship of Geography at different levels (school and university) to disciplinary history in the context of changes in the modes of publication. The papers that follow draw on material from a range of anglophone textbooks with reflections from Aotearoa/New Zealand, the UK, the USA and Singapore.canonicity, pedagogy, quantitative revolution, textbooks | INTRODUCTIONTextbooks, it has been argued, shape disciplines (Johnston, 2006). They certainly reflect disciplinary mores and fashions. Consider, for example, the influence of Geography and gender produced as a collectively authored textbook by the Women and Geography Study Group (1984) of the Institute of British Geographers. It soon became a conduit for feminist critique in Geography. A quarter of a century on, Susan Hanson observed how:As I re-read the book recently, I was struck by how the core message -pay attention to gender if you really want to understand geographic processes -still resonates. Yet in 1984, when Geography and gender first appeared, this message was revolutionary! The disciplinary norm was to ignore gender with abandon. Undoubtedly, this key text played a key role in creating some of the changes we have seen in geography over the past 20 years, e.g., the increased presence of women in academic geography, the recognition that gender thoroughly infuses geographic processes, and the now-rather-large and rapidly growing body of literature in feminist geography. (2008, p. 93) Cause and effect in disciplinary change is likely more complex than Hanson allows, yet her views on Geography and gender remind us that despite textbooks' importance to the discipline, discussions about their production and consumption are too often either relegated to footnotes in disciplinary histories or considered only when course descriptions are prepared for students. An invitation to debate textbooks that followed an exchange of views of editors and publishers in the Journal of Geography in Higher Education more than two decades ago (Davey et al., 1995) elicited few immediate responses and has accumulated only limited citations since. Likewise Mitchell and Smith's (1991) claim that introductory textbooks reified states, failing to account for their historical contingency, and thus offered succour to a renewal of western imperial warmaking has not led to much discussion, despite such war-making becoming banal.Continuing technological and political/socio-economic shifts as well as discussions on disciplinary pasts and futures mean that the publication and utilisation of textbooks in Geography merits fresh reflection. This set of papers brings together a range of textbook authors and editors, mindful of shifting mores and modes in publishing and higher education. We open with reflections on the place of textbooks in disciplinary histo...

show abstract

“…They thus lack visibility, lack recognition, within this performative system. This influences scholars’ decisions about how to direct their publication efforts (Sidaway, ; Smart, 2009; Roberts, ; and see the contributions in this issue by Inkpen, ; Ramdas, Ho, & Woon, ; Warf, ), Clark and Phillips () reporting that publishers struggle to commission textbooks at particular times in relation to the research assessment “cycle”. In the UK, there is some attempt to balance the disjuncture between research and teaching through a new national mechanism of performance monitoring, the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Visibility and invisibility in, of and through textbook publication

Couper

2017

Area

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In their production and their role in academic life, textbooks lie at the intersection of a number of “regimes of visibility” (and invisibility). In this contribution I reflect on my own experience of textbook authorship to highlight some of these regimes: first, the processes through which textbooks are published; second, the mechanisms of monitoring and measuring of academic production; third, disciplinary hierarchies of reputation and influence; and fourth, considering the textbook as a technology of visibility itself. Through all of these, what is left invisible is the knowing, learning author. I highlight some of the implications of this invisibility for Geography.

show abstract

The “smugness” of geographers: Dismantling the caricatures of philosophies in Human and Physical Geography

Cited by 5 publications

References 15 publications

A hierarchical framework for concepts in physical geography

A hierarchical framework for concepts in physical geography

Geography textbooks, pedagogy and disciplinary traditions

Visibility and invisibility in, of and through textbook publication

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About