Students, faculty and staff celebrated Geography Awareness Week Nov. 11-15 by participating in several campus activities.
Dr. Brooks Blevins, the Noel Boyd Professor of Ozarks Studies at Missouri State University in Springfield, examined the Ozark dialect and explained the historical and geographical origins of the dialect during his presentation, “How to Speak Ozark in Seven Easy Steps,” on Nov. 13.
Blevins has authored or edited nine books, including his most recent work, “A History of the Ozarks: Volume 2 – A Conflicted Ozarks” released in October by the University of Illinois Press.
Following Blevins’ presentation, organizers showed the documentary “Where to Invade Next” by Michael Moore.
Several students offered presentations on a number of geography-related topics during the week. They included:
- climate change and its impact on different parts of the world
- the impact of urbanization on agriculture
- the geography of diets
- future of Brexit
- globalization
- the dynamics of recycling
- resource depletion
- melting in Antarctica
Students, faculty and staff also were encouraged to view a giant geographical map of Missouri during the week. The 17×21-square-foot map was provided by the Missouri Geographic Alliance and the National Geographic Society.
Geography Awareness Week activities were funded through the university’s Annual Fund and the Philanthropic Women for Education organization.