The Undergraduate Geography Experience I: Students and Professors Share their Perspectives
Type: Lightning PaperTheme:
Sponsor Groups: Undergraduate Student Affinity Group, Community College Affinity Group, Geography Education Specialty Group, Specialty Group Highlighted Session
Poster #:
Day: 4/5/2019
Start / End Time: 1:10 PM / 2:50 PM
Room: Maryland C, Marriott, Lobby Level
Organizers: Candice Luebbering, Erika Ornouski
Chairs: Candice Luebbering
Call for Submissions
We are seeking undergraduate geographers and geography faculty to share their experience and perspective about their home geography departments and programs as a way to understand, compare, and contrast the undergraduate geography experience. Presenters will be provided with a series of questions to help guide the content for their brief presentations. Presentations will be followed by a group discussion and comparison of experiences with the goal of sharing ideas to improve the undergraduate geography experience, increase undergraduate geography student recruitment and retention, and promote networking among undergraduates as well as between undergraduates and professors. Contact cluebbering@aag.org for more information and/or if you would like to participate in this session.
Description
Undergraduates are the fastest growing membership category of the American Association of Geographers with 54% growth from 2016 to 2017 and over 500 undergraduate students attending the 2018 AAG Annual Meeting. Undergraduate geographers are the next generation to lead our discipline in not only academia, but in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Understanding the undergraduate geography experience and how it varies between different types of programs can provide insight into: 1) how departments can adapt and evolve to recruit and retain undergraduate majors, 2) how students currently engage or wish to engage with their geography departments and programs, 3) the post-secondary training and experiences currently offered to young geographers, and 4) how and why undergraduate geographers choose whether or not to pursue graduate study in the discipline. In this session, both professors and undergraduates will give brief presentations about their undergraduate geography program experience from their perspectives as educators and students in different university geography programs. Presenters will be provided with a series of questions to help guide their content. Presentations will be followed by a group discussion and comparison of experiences with the goal of sharing ideas to improve the undergraduate geography experience, increase undergraduate geography student recruitment and retention, and promote networking among undergraduates as well as between undergraduates and professors.
Agenda
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