The Missouri Geographic Alliance, a network of Missouri educators, geography professionals and citizens, hosted its fall conference at the Animal Science center on campus Saturday.
This year’s conference hosted more than 20 lecturers, including a keynote by Alyson Greiner, professor at Oklahoma State University and editor of the Journal of Cultural Geography.
The event also included a variety of lectures on various subjects that ranged from hands-on geospatial technology activities, geography and economic data to exploration of scientific concepts from a geographical perspective.
Retired assistant professor Larry Brown gave a talk entitled “We Know Who We Are: White Nationalism in the Ozarks.”
Brown’s lecture chronicled the numerous white extremist, racist groups that have developed in the Ozarks region of Missouri over the last century. He also detailed how several of the older and enduring geographic features of the Ozark region are related to the development of these extremist groups.
“In general, geography is the one of the most integrated and holistic educational disciplines,” Brown said. “The level of technical and sociological integration within the field makes it almost imperative that students have at least some knowledge of it. It (is) so much more than the data — it’s the vast implications of such data.”
Many students studying education and geography also attended the event to present various lesson plans and attend lectures.
These students, like senior Caleb Pitts, were also given an opportunity to present their ideas in an informal poster presentation format.
“We are here to present our lesson plans, as well as to attend the presentations from all of the guest speakers,” Pitts said. “Our lesson plan is entitled ‘Themes of Geography’, which talks about the practical applications of geography. I, along with several other students attending, are on the path to teaching high school social studies.”
The MGA connects educators with geographers and vice versa, and is funded through a National Geographic Education Foundation grant as well as fundraising.
A part of the conference focused on raising funds for the organization via silent auctions and raffles.
Shannon White, MGA coordinator and Missouri 4-H science youth specialist, said the alliance offers various opportunities for its members.
“The first purpose of the MGA is to connect educators with geographers,” White said. “The alliance gives opportunities to educators and geographers alike, while also creating chances for these educators to become educated themselves by attending events like our fall conference.”
The alliance has a track record of creating opportunities for their members to attend education-oriented events, as well as traveling to exotic places in the process. Andy Tilmon, a high school social studies teacher, said he is an example of this.
“Through my membership and participation in MGA, I was selected by the Northeast Asian History Foundation to be a part of the U.S. delegation to attend the fifth International Conference on Geographic Naming and Geographic Education in Seoul, South Korea,” Tilmon said.
White said the alliance has also acted as an advocacy group in the past.
“I was able to take students to Washington, D.C., to lobby for geography education through the alliance,” she said. “It is so important to be able to advocate, and the alliance has been an instrumental tool in allowing us to do that.”
The event concluded with a raffle and a lifetime achievement award given to Bill Gerling, director of social studies education for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Gerling urged the audience to stay involved in the alliance.
“It’s a great opportunity to network,” White said. “We love to come together, we love to see each other and we absolutely love to see what sort of opportunities we can make available to each other. We’re a tight-knit group.”
