![Sample our Global Development journals, sign in here to start your access, latest two full volumes FREE to you for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5929/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Global-Development.jpg"})
Abstract
Recent debates about the state of geography raise valuable questions about how the discipline can and should change in response to shifting institutional realities. Focusing on the breadth and interdisciplinarity of geography, these discussions often overlook the role of pedagogy—particularly graduate training—in adapting the discipline to new institutional landscapes. Drawing on experiences as current and recent geography doctoral students, we identify institutional seedlings of opportunity that can be cultivated toward a spectrum of alternative doctoral training models. These alternatives offer significant opportunities to better prepare early-career geographers for success and to solidify geography's position as a leader in interdisciplinary research.
晚近有关地理学的状态之辩论，提出了该领域应该且如何能够改变，以回应转变中的制度现实之宝贵问题。尽管这些讨论聚焦地理学的广度与跨领域性，但却经常忽略教育学在让该领域适应新的制度地景时所扮演的角色——特别是研究所的训练。我们运用目前与晚近身为地理学博士生之经验，指认能够培养另类的博士训练模型光谱的机会之制度秧苗。这些另类选项，提供了显着的机会，让处于事业初期的地理学者能够更佳准备以获得成功，并强化了地理学在跨领域研究中的领导地位。
Recientes debates acerca del estado de la geografía generan importantes preguntas sobre cómo podría y debería transformarse la disciplina en respuesta a cambiantes realidades institucionales. Centrándose en la amplitud e interdisciplinariedad de la geografía, estas discusiones a menudo dejan de lado el papel de la pedagogía—particularmente el entrenamiento posgraduado—para adaptar la disciplina a nuevos paisajes institucionales. Con base en experiencias adquiridas en nuestra condición de estudiantes doctorales actuales y recientes en geografía, identificamos semilleros institucionales de oportunidad que pueden cultivarse hacia un espectro de modelos alternativos de formación doctoral. Estas alternativas ofrecen oportunidades significativas para una mejor preparación orientada hacia el éxito de geógrafos que empiezan sus carreras, y para solidificar la posición de la geografía por liderazgo en investigación interdisciplinaria.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Kirby Calvert, as well as the editor and two anonymous reviewers at The Professional Geographer for their insightful comments on earlier versions of this article. We also thank the Department of Geography and the PLACE lab at Penn State for their support during the development of this work.
Funding
The work of Russell C. Hedberg II was supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DGE1255832. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
Notes
1 Intradisciplinary frequently refers to collaborations within a discipline, whereas interdisciplinary requires integrative work that spans disciplinary borders. Recognizing that some geography departments specialize in some but not all of the subfields, we use intradisciplinary and interdisciplinary interchangeably in this article to present options that might better capture the institutional realities of different departments.
2 The IGERT program, funded by the NSF since 1998, supports training in a wide range of interdisciplinary topics. IGERT programs build on disciplinary strengths in interdisciplinary contexts. Interdisciplinary training is not dependent on this particular funding model, however, so we offer other examples where this training could occur.
3 Although the seedlings and alternative dissertation models presented here could be instrumental (if not inspirational) to geography departments housed outside the United States, their direct transferability is likely limited due to differences in graduate training between U.S. institutions and those in other countries.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Russell C. Hedberg
RUSSELL C. HEDBERG II is a PhD candidate in the Department of Geography at The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802. E-mail: [email protected]. His research interests include agroecology and soil health in local and regional food system initiatives and sustainable agriculture in developed nations.
Arielle Hesse
ARIELLE HESSE is a Graduate Student in the Departments of Geography and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802. E-mail: [email protected]. Her research interests include gendered and geographic processes that influence health within resource extraction, with specific emphasis on the regulation of occupational health within energy occupations in the United States.
Doug Baldwin
DOUG BALDWIN is a PhD candidate in the Department of Geography at The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802. E-mail: [email protected]. His research interests include estimating subsurface soil moisture content across large areas and analyzing how forested ecosystems are affected by drought.
Jase Bernhardt
JASE BERNHARDT is a PhD candidate in the Department of Geography at The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802. E-mail: [email protected]. His research interests focus on the assessment of human impacts on climate across multiple scales.
David Pahl Retchless
DAVID PAHL RETCHLESS is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Marine Sciences at Texas A&M University at Galveston, Galveston, TX 77553. E-mail: [email protected]. His research interests include the cartographic communication of climate change and related coastal hazards.
Jamie E. Shinn
JAMIE E. SHINN is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography at Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77840. E-mail: [email protected]. Her research interests include environmental governance, political ecology, adaptation to climate change, and southern Africa.