AAG Launches Campaign, Resources to Celebrate Geography Awareness Week

WASHINGTON, DC—The American Association of Geographers has launched an awareness campaign and three new web resources to commemorate Geography Awareness Week (GeoWeek), which takes place November 12-18, and this year’s special theme: The Geographies of Civil Rights Movements. The civil rights theme was chosen to demonstrate how a geographic education can shed light on important contemporary issues in society.

Geography Awareness Week (www.aag.org/geoweek) is an annual celebration of geography and the important role it plays in our lives. Founded by presidential proclamation in 1987, Geography Awareness Week is observed during the third week of November each year.

To further highlight the theme and its place in geography, the AAG will match all donations made to the AAG Enhancing Diversity Fund during GeoWeek. The Enhancing Diversity Fund supports the AAG Enhancing Diversity Award and activities designed to promote inclusion and broaden participation in the geography discipline. The Enhancing Diversity Award honors geographers who have led the way toward encouraging a more diverse discipline.

Other AAG efforts for GeoWeek include the development of three new web resources:

AAG Multimedia Resources for Geography Outreach and Engagement (www.aag.org/multimedia-resources), a new compendium of tools and materials for recruiting students, enhancing academic curricula, and raising geographic awareness among the public at large. The new compendium, which consists of videos, podcasts, syllabi, documents, and websites, is searchable by keywords, category, format, and source to suit the user’s needs. Promotional videos created by geography departments and academic centers to recruit students are a chief component of this new compendium.

AAG Geography Speakers Bureau (www.aag.org/speakers-bureau), a directory of geography scholars, teachers and other professionals who are willing to speak on ongoing developments and trends in their areas of interest. The goal is to help connect these experts and thought leaders with geography programs and departments as well as wider academic, scientific, policy, and public audiences. These speakers may also be available for interviews or to comment on breaking news.

Profiles of Geographers Working in Civil Rights & Social Justice (www.aag.org/civil-rights), a small guide of geographers who have previously been recognized for their work in diversity, anti-racism, and social justice. Visitors will learn about geographers who champion diversity, advocate for civil and equal rights, and advance social justice ideas and policies, such as Jacquelyn Beyer, Glen Elder, Harold Rose, Ruth Wilson Gilmore, Glenda Laws, and James Tyner.

Founded in 1904, the American Association of Geographers (www.aag.org) is a scholarly and professional organization representing nearly 12,000 geographers from around the world. The AAG advances the study and use of geography to understand, debate, and address important contemporary issues.