CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY SPECIALTY GROUP
OF THE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN GEOGRAPHERS
2010-2011 ANNUAL REPORT
I. Mission Statement:
The Cultural Geography Specialty Group (CGSG) seeks to promote and encourage
scholarly research and superior teaching in the field of Cultural Geography through the
exchange of current thoughts, trends and information focusing on all areas of the field.
The CGSG shall encourage, facilitate and sponsor the organization of paper sessions
and discussion panels at national and regional meetings of the Association of American
Geographers (AAG) as well as other seminars, symposiums, and conferences at which
themes relating to cultural geography are discussed. The CGSG will also reward junior
scholars by hosting paper competitions and awarding research grants. The CGSG will
stimulate dialog about and among the discipline and represent the members in all
matters related to membership in the national association (AAG).
II. 2010 Dues:
Regular Members: $5.00; Students: $2.00
III. Board of Directors:
Chair
Soren Larsen (University of Missouri), term 2007-2011
larsens@missouri.edu
Beth Schlemper (University of Toledo), term 2011-2013
MaryBeth.Schlemper@UToledo.Edu
Treasurer/Secretary
Sara Beth Keough (Saginaw Valley State University), term 2010-2012
skeough@utk.edu
Program Director:
Sharon Wilcox (University of Texas), term 2010-2012
sewilcox@mail.utexas.edu
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Awards Director:
Chris Post (Kent State University-Stark), term 2007-2011
cpost2@kent.edu
Sarah Smiley (Kent State University-Salem), term 2011-2013
ssmiley8@kent.edu
Nominations Director:
Charlie Travis (Trinity College Dublin), term 2009-2013
ctravis@tcd.ie or Charles.Travis@nuim.ie
Graduate Student Representatives (2):
Soyini Ashby (The University of the West Indies), term 2010-2012
soyini.ashby@gmail.com
Nicholas Jon Crane (Ohio State University), term 2011-2013
crane.61@osu.edu
IV. Accomplishments, Activities Scheduled, Future Plans and Directions
Business Meeting:
The CGSG Business Meeting was held in Seattle, Washington on April 15, 2011 at 7:00
p.m. in conjunction with the Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting.
There were approximately 25 people in attendance. The agenda for the meeting
included the election of new officers and graduate student representative, a report from
the awards director on the student paper and research competition, a report on the
“Landscape Photography Exhibit,” a report from the graduate student representatives
on current and future activities, a treasurer’s report, and discussion of next year’s (2012)
CGSG Marquee speaker as well as ideas for field trips at the annual meeting, and
announcements. Beth Schlemper (University of Toledo) was elected as Chair to
replace Soren Larsen who served from 2007 to 2011; Charlie Travis was re-elected as
Nominations Director; Sarah Smiley (Kent State University-Salem) was elected as
Awards Director to replace Chris Post who served from 2007 to 2011; and Nicholas Jon
Crane was elected as Graduate Student Representative.
Newsletter:
The CGSG Newsletter, which was published previously twice a year in hardcopy form,
has been transformed to a completely online publication that was sent to each specialty
group member via email and was placed on the CGSG web page
(http://cultural.missouri.edu/News.html) In addition, a newsletter is now put out only once a
year, immediately preceding the AAG meeting. The reduction in number is necessary
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because the newsletter has been reformatted to provide more substantive content
rather than simply announcements. The Spring 2011 newsletter
(http://cultural.missouri.edu/2011_Newsletter.pdf), edited by Soren Larsen and Sara
Beth Keough, contained the following items: comments/notes from the chair, various
calls for papers, CGSG sponsored paper sessions and general announcements. The
specialty group has received several compliments from members expressing pleasure
in the newsletter. The leadership decided to continue with this newsletter format in
future years.
2011 CGSG Student paper and Research Grant Awards:
This year, our winners were honored at the CGSG Marquee speaker session in Seattle.
Chris Post publicly announced the award winners and presented their certificates and
checks to them.
Grant Awards: This year we received 10 applications for the research grant award, all
at the PhD level. The first place winner of the Denis Cosgrove PhD Research Grant
Award was Timur Hammond, UCLA ($500) for “Making Eyüp Islamic: History, Piety, and
the Transformation of the built Environment.” The second place winner was Amy MillerGray, Indiana University ($250) for “The Host Gaze in Kuna Yala, AKA San Blas
Islands.”
Paper Awards: Ann Epperson, Western Kentucky, won the Master’s Student paper
award ($200) for “Internet GIS as a Historic Place Making Tool for Mammoth Cave
National Park.”
2011 Annual Meeting:
The CGSG featured a Marquee speaker, Richard Day (Queens University) at the 2011
AAG Annual Meeting, who spoke on contemporary affinity politics. His work on
anarchist currents stirred an interesting discussion on geography as an intellectual and
ethical praxis.
Ramin Zamanian organized the 2011 Landscape Photography Exhibit, which has been
featured three times now at the AAG annual meetings. This year there were 19 photos
submitted (up from 15 last year), and displayed prominently near the registration area.
The AAG plans to support this at subsequent annual meetings with boards for
presentation.
In 2011, CGSG sponsored (or co-sponsored) 55 sessions, that included a range of
geographers and scholars from numerous disciplines. Interestingly, 343 sessions were
listed as having “cultural geography” in the Topical Index of the meeting program.
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The graduate student representatives of the CGSG organized a morning social
event/breakfast which was well received. They plan to continue this tradition at next
year’s annual meeting.
Future Directions:
At the 2011 CGSG business meeting, a discussion was led by Soyini Ashby, out-going
graduate student representative, about creating a sub-committee of “regional
representatives” (one from each AAG region and one international representative) of the
CGSG. The purpose of this initiative is to increase active participation in the Cultural
Geography Specialty Group (CGSG), and improve our service to our members. The
regional representatives will act as liaisons between the CGSG members in each region
and the CGSG executive committee. They will have the task of promoting the CGSG in
their respective regions, and providing feedback to the executive committee on ways to
increase participation in the CGSG. Another important function will be organizing a
post-graduate seminar on cultural geography at each regional meeting. This idea is in
preliminary stages, and Soren Larson (out-going Chair will serve as the representative
for the West Lakes region as we organize and pilot this over the next year).
Another initiative discussed is the possibility of publishing the winning photos of the
landscape photography exhibit in the Journal of Cultural Geography.
The CGSG will also utilize the new social networking software that the AAG is providing
as a tool for specialty groups. This will be useful for maintaining discussions and
promoting communication among CGSG members throughout the year.
V. Membership and Participation
According to recent information provided by the AAG office, there are approximately
831 members of the Cultural Geography Specialty Group, comprised of 390 student
members and 441 non-student members. Besides the AAG membership list, a listserve
for the CGSG is maintained also at the University of Oklahoma and it currently has
approx. 265 registered members.
Financial Report
The CGSG bank account is kept with funds in the AAG Central Office. The current
account statement can be obtained from Teri Martin in the main AAG office.
Association of American Geographers
Specialty Groups Financial Report
April 30, 2011
Cultural Geography Specialty Group
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Date
Description
8/31/09
Balance forward
9/30/09
Dues collected for September 2009
Receipts
Disbursements
Balance
$
2,318.53
216.00
2,534.53
10/22/09
Wallach, B. AM Reg
(390.00)
10/31/09
Dues collected for October 2009
850.00
2,994.53
11/13/09
Informa UK Ltd
362.00
3,356.53
11/30/09
Dues collected for November 2009
291.00
3,647.53
12/31/09
Dues collected for December 2009
89.00
3,736.53
1/31/10
Dues collected for January 2010
2/28/10
Dues collected for February 2010
3/12/10
Wallach-travel to AM 2010
3/31/10
Dues collected for March 2010
4/14/10
Barber - Cosgrove award
(500.00)
3,438.53
4/14/10
Pettygrove - Masters research award
(250.00)
3,188.53
4/14/10
Wilcox - Jordon-Bychkov award
(200.00)
2,988.53
4/23/10
Wallach- CGSG Marquee Address
(500.00)
2,488.53
4/30/10
Dues collected for April 2010
5/8/00
2,617.53
5/31/10
Dues collected for May 2010
3/11/00
2,688.53
6/30/10
Dues collected for June 2010
2/13/00
2,732.53
7/31/10
2/24/00
2,787.53
8/23/10
Dues collected for July 2010
Finn - Reimbursement for CultGeo graduate
student get together
8/31/10
Dues collected for August 2010
4/19/00
8/31/10
Balance
$
2,832.53
8/31/10
Balance forward
$
2,832.53
9/30/10
Dues collected for September 2010
193.00
3,025.53
Dues collected for October 2010
432.00
3,457.53
10/31/10
126.00
2,144.53
3,862.53
7/23/00
4,067.53
(313.00)
7/2/00
3,754.53
3,938.53
(65.00)
2,722.53
2,832.53
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11/30/10
Dues collected for November 2010
276.00
3,733.53
12/31/10
Dues collected for December 2010
168.00
3,901.53
1/31/11
Dues collected for January 2011
153.00
4,054.53
2/28/11
Dues collected for February 2011
127.00
4,181.53
3/30/11
Miller-Gray - 2nd place PhD Research Comp.
(250.00)
3,931.53
3/31/11
Epperson - 1st Place MA Paper Comp.
(200.00)
3,731.53
3/22/11
Mitchelson - CGSG Awards Judging Honorarium
(100.00)
3,631.53
3/22/11
Hanlon - CGSG Awards Judging Honorarium
(100.00)
3,531.53
3/22/11
Adams - CGSG Awards Judging Honorarium
(100.00)
3,431.53
3/22/11
Hammond - Denis Cosgrove Award
(500.00)
2,931.53
3/31/11
Dues collected for March 2011
4/21/11
Travis - reimb. for printing
4/21/11
Day - AM 2011 speaker honorarium
4/30/11
Dues collected for April 2011
4/30/11
Balance
197.00
144.00
3,128.53
(32.85)
3,095.68
(500.00)
2,595.68
2,739.68
$
2,739.68
VI. Special Requests or Questions for Council
None
Respectfully submitted by:
M. Beth Schlemper, Chair (2011-2013)
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