Geographies Of Us

Drawing from the vast photography collection at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, American Geography charts a visual history of land use in the United States From the earliest photographic records of human habitation to the latest aerial and digital pictures, from almost uninhabited desert and isolated mountainous territories to suburban sprawl and densely populated cities, this compilation offers an increasingly nuanced perspective on the American landscape. Divided by region, these photographs address ways in which different histories and traditions of land use have given rise to different cultural transitions: from the Midwestern prairies and agricultural traditions of the South, to the riverine systems in the Northeast, and the environmental challenges and riches of the far West. American Geography also looks at the evidence of older habitation from the adobe dwellings and ancient cultures of the Southwest to the Midwestern mounds, many of them prehistoric. SFMOMA's last photography exhibition to consider land use, Crossing the Frontier (1996), examined only the American West. At the time, this focus offered a different way to think about landscape, and a useful way to reconsider pictures of the region. American Geography expands upon the groundwork laid by Crossing the Frontier, providing a complex, thought-provoking survey. Photographers include: Carleton E. Watkins, Barbara Bosworth, Lee Friedlander, Stephen Shore, Debbie Fleming Caffery, Mitch Epstein, An-My Lê, William Eggleston, Alec Soth, Mishka Henner, Trevor Paglen, Victoria Sambunaris, Emmet Gowin, Robert Adams, Terry Evans, Dorothea Lange and Mark Ruwedel, among others.

Ethnic diversity has marked the United States from its inception, and it is impossible to separate ethnicity from an understanding of the United States as a country and “Americans” as a people. Since the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, the United States has experienced watershed transformations in its social, cultural, and ethnic geographies. Considering the impact of these wide-ranging changes, this unique text examines the experiences of a range of ethnic groups in both historical and contemporary context. It begins by laying out a comprehensive conceptual framework that integrates immigration theory; globalization; transnational community formation; and urban, cultural, and economic geography. The contributors then present a rich set of case studies of the key Latin American, Asian American, and Middle Eastern communities comprising the vast majority of newer immigrants. Each case offers a brief historical overview of the group’s immigration experience and settlement patterns and discusses its contemporary socioeconomic dynamics. All these communities have transformed—and been transformed by—the places in which they have settled. Exploring these changing communities, places, and landscapes, this book offers a nuanced understanding of the evolution of America's contemporary ethnic geographies.

The Geographies of Threat and the Production of Violence exposes the spatial processes of racialising, gendering, and classifying populations through the encoded urban infrastructure – from highways cleaving neighbourhoods to laws and policies fortifying even more unbreachable boundaries. This synthesis of narrative and theory resurrects neglected episodes of state violence and reveals how the built environment continues to enable it today within a range of cities throughout the world. Examples and discussions pull from colonial pasts and presents, of old strategic settlements turned major modern cities in the United States and elsewhere that link to the physical and legal structures concentrating a populace into neighbourhoods that prep them for a lifetime of conscripted and carceral service to the State.

Immigrant Geographies of North American Cities is unique in that most chapters are written by both an American and a Canadian scholar, drawn from among the top scholars in both countries. This textbook gives students access to a wide variety of scholarly perspectives, to help create a foundation for their study and research. This book also fills a gap in scholarly literature on immigrant geographies, by providing a text book that compares and contrasts immigrant experiences in the Unites States those experiences in Canada. Part I examines the history of immigration in both countries, and the current immigration situation in the major receiving centres in both countries. Part II examines the imprint of immigration on North American cities and suburbs by looking at the barriers and opportunities immigrants face in obtaining accessing housing, achieving socioeconomic and economic parity with the native-born population, access to quality health care, and improving rates of political incorporation. Part II also looks at the settlement patterns of newly arrived immigrants, compares current patterns to historical trends, and evaluates the role that gender plays in forming these patterns. Part III examines the specific patterns of immigration for four non-European immigrant groups. The first three chapters in Part III look at the experiences of Asian, Latin American, and Black immigrants by comparing and contrasting specific countries of origin and specific receiving centres for each group in both Canada and the United States. The last chapter focuses on cross border migration between Canada and the United States and the impact that these immigrants have on their new countries.

In an approach that differs from other publications on U.S. multiculturalism, Multicultural Geographies examines the changing patterns of race and ethnicity in the United States from geographical perspectives. It reflects the significant contributions made by geographers in recent years to our understanding of the day-to-day experiences of American minorities and the historical and current processes that account for living spaces, persistent patterns of segregation and group inequalities, and the complex geographies that continue to evolve at local and regional levels across the country. One of the book's underlying themes is the dynamic and complex nature of U.S. multiculturalism and the academic difficulty in evaluating it from a single viewpoint or theoretical stance. As such, Multicultural Geographies is derived from the joint efforts of selected scholars to bring together diverse perspectives and approaches in documenting the experiences of American minorities and the issues that affect them.

For anyone interested in recent American research on climate, cities, Geographical Information Systems, Latin America, or any of the other subfields in geography, this volume provides representative accounts of American geographers' contributions in 47 specialty areas. This wide range of specialties comprises both a comprehensive reference and a 'state of the discipline' report. - ;Geography in America at the Dawn of the 21st Century surveys American geographers' current research in their specialty areas and tracks trends and innovations in the many subfields of geography. As such, it is both a 'state of the discipline' assessment and a topical reference. It includes an introduction by the editors and 47 chapters, each on a specific specialty. The authors of each chapter were chosen by their specialty group of the American Association of Geographers (AAG). Based on a process of review and revision, the chapters in this volume have become truly representative of the recent scholarship of American geographers. While it focuses on work since 1990, it additionally includes related prior work and work by non-American geographers. The initial Geography in America was published in 1989 and has become a benchmark reference of American geographical research during the 1980s. This latest volume is completely new and features a Foreward written by the eminent geographer, Gilbert White. - ;"This comprehensive work provides an opportunity for all to share an understanding of what professional geography in the US has become. Highly recommended." Geoffrey J. Martin, Choice -

This innovative book provides a dynamic—and often surprising—view of the range of environmental issues facing the United States today. A distinguished group of scholars examines the growing temporal, spatial, and thematic breadth of topics historical geographers are now exploring. Seventeen original chapters examine topics such as forest conservation, mining landscapes, urban environment justice, solid waste, exotic species, environmental photography, national and state park management, recreation and tourism, and pest control. Commemorating the twenty-fifth anniversary of the publication of the seminal work The American Environment: Interpretations of Past Geographies, the book clearly shows much has changed since 1992. Indeed, not only has the range of issues expanded, but an increasing number of geographers are forging links with environmental historians, promoting a level of intellectual cross-fertilization that benefits both disciplines. As a result, environmental historical geographies today are richer and more diverse than ever. The American Environment Revisited offers a comprehensive overview that gives both specialist and general readers a fascinating look at our changing relationships with nature over time.

Geography and Geographers continues to be the most comprehensive and up-to-date overview of human geography available. It provides a survey of the major debates, key thinkers and schools of thought in the English-speaking world, setting them within the context of economic, social, cultural, political and intellectual changes. It is essential reading for all undergraduate geography students. It draws on a wide reading of the geographical literature and addresses the ways geography and its history are understood and the debates among geographers regarding what the discipline should study and how. This extensively updated seventh edition offers a thoroughly contemporary perspective on human geography for new and more experienced students alike.