Economic Geography

What and how will we teach?
In many ways, this last question is the most important of all; it is also where all
of the prior questions come together. I would very much like to see an analysis
of how, and how much, our teaching of economic geography at the university
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Susan Hanson

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level has changed since the 1960s. Absent such an analysis I can only pose some
questions for those of us who are college teachers to ponder: How might we
change our courses so that we are clearly demonstrating to our students the
power of geography and why, for example, economics alone does not provide
satisfactory insights? Do we ask our students to connect theories in economic
geography to current issues and events in the media? Do we challenge our
students to become involved in solving problems in our home communities? Do
we help them to see the links between local issues and global ones? Do we ask
our students to get out into the field, identify researchable problems, collect and
analyze data? Are we ensuring that our students, particularly at the graduate
level, have a solid understanding of both quantitative and qualitative research
tools? Are our students connected with local agencies and providing them with
the results of student-led research? 
At the regional, national, and international levels, why do we not devote more
time and energy to sharing ideas about course materials, syllabi, exercises,
creative assignments, successful teaching strategies and the like? Surely most of
us who are academics spend a larger proportion of our time during the academic
year working with students than working on our research. Why then are profes-
sional meetings so overwhelmingly focused on the presentation of research results,
to the neglect of teaching and learning concerns? Perhaps the Economic Geography
Specialty Group (EGSG) within the Association of American Geographers (AAG)
(and similar interest groups in other national organizations) could stimulate inter-
est in, and debate about, what we teach and how we teach; perhaps the EGSG
could also coordinate a sustained exchange of ideas and materials among teach-
ers of economic geography at the college and even the high-school level.
Students are our future. I would like to see us spend far more of our time than
we currently do thinking creatively about this part of our future! There are many
ways to engage with students, to develop their critical thinking and research
skills, and to fire their excitement for economic geography. I don’t intend to
imply that we should all follow one prescribed approach in our teaching, but 
I do think we should have a lively exchange of ideas on this important topic.