GEOGRAPHERS GET AN EARLY START!

While I was born in Berkeley, California during the late-60s Peace and Civil Rights struggles, I was moved by my parents at the age of 1 1/2 to Columbia, Missouri, where life was a little more peaceful.  During these early years in Missouri I developed a fascination with maps and travel that has stuck with me.  Except for 6 months near Washington, D.C., most of my formative years were spent in the Midwest, including 15 years (middle school through college) in Columbus, Ohio and at Ohio State .  Growing up I was what you might call a “suburban kid,” but I have been lucky to be able to travel extensively in the United States on family and school trips.  My foreign experience includes a junior year abroad from OSU, which I spent studying geography, history of architecture and history of art at hallowed Edinburgh University , and a month of intensive language training at an institute in Vladimir, Russia during the summer of 1995.

My undergraduate major at Ohio State was Architecture.  After a year of architectural practice, I decided to go back to graduate school, studying urban social geography at Penn State.  There I conducted research for my masters thesis on the social and historical geography of American cities, particularly as it regards the experiences of mentally and/or physically disabled people.  My Ph.D. dissertation at the University of Kentucky focused on the ideal of physical and moral ‘temperance’ in 19th century American medical geography.

Since joining the faculty of the College of Education at Temple University, I have taught courses in disability studies, the history of education, urban issues, and Third World education.  Many of my courses incorporate experiential learning components.  Since 2004 I have been bringing groups of Temple University and West Chester University students to Morant Bay, Jamaica (St. Thomas in the East) where they are engaged in community-based sustainable development projects.  Long-term planning on on these projects is facilitated by the Chicago and Philadelphia-based NGO Edu-Tourism, http://edu-tourism.org.                    For the latest news, visit my Edu-Tourism Weblog