Where in the world did geography go?

When Miss Teen South Carolina Lauren Upton was asked why some recent studies have shown that… When Miss Teen South Carolina Lauren Upton was asked why some recent studies have shown that as many as one-fifth of Americans can’t locate the United States on the map, she had this to say: “I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because, uh, some people out there in our nation don’t have maps, and I believe that our education, like such as in South Africa, and the Iraq, and everywhere such as, and I believe that they should, uh, our education over here in the U.S. should help the U.S., or should help South Africa and should help the Iraq and the Asian countries so we will be able to build up our future for our children.”

The clip of Upton’s geographical gaffe was widely circulated on YouTube and other Internet sites and was given much attention on news programs. Before she knew it, she went from beauty queen to poster girl for the United States’ lack of geographical knowledge.

Unfortunately, Upton represents a large faction of the U.S. population that has no idea where they (or anyone else) are. When pondering exactly who’s at fault for this earth-sized blunder, who better to point fingers at than our education system?

It doesn’t take a genius to realize that geography is important (or maybe it does).

To even begin to understand a fraction of the world’s problems and ongoing conflicts, a person needs to understand the layout of the globe. The positioning of countries, and of people, is central to everything that exists.

That said, Pitt, one of the largest universities in Pennsylvania, doesn’t offer its students a single class in geography. While Pitt offers many classes in anthropological studies, the University doesn’t offer any courses that center specifically on geographical studies.

After a detailed search of The Pitt News’ archives, I was able to uncover why this gaping hole in our curriculum exists. It turns out that Pitt did have a thriving geography department many years ago. That is, until Arts and Sciences Dean Jerry Rosenberg announced that he’d be cutting it on Aug. 29, 1982.

Citing a decline in enrollment and the fact that Pitt’s geography department had “not made a national impact in the rankings of its discipline,” Dean Rosenberg decided it was time to pull the plug.

Rosenberg had wanted to eliminate the department for some time, and tried unsuccessfully in 1977, when his proposal was rejected by the University senate.

After the University decided it should keep the department, Rosenberg promised to revitalize Pitt’s geography program.

When he announced that he was recommending the purging of the geography program again in 1982, many Pitt students, particularly those pursuing a master’s degree in the field, were outraged and felt that Rosenberg had broken his promise to revitalize the department. At the time, the University saved $140,000 a year by doing away with the geography program.

In a written statement to Dean Rosenberg and Chancellor Wesley Posvar, who made the final decision to axe the department, the graduate students of Pitt’s geography program noted, “They can raise tuition, raise parking fees, hold enrollments and accept more money from the state, and then they can turn around and claim that they can’t afford to keep urgently needed and often slated promises to an academic unit.”

The true shame in Pitt’s lack of a geography department is the fact that the only ones who lost out on the deal were the students. The graduate students’ written statement was very accurate.

Tuitions are raised almost every year, but still, important programs like geographical education are left out in the cold. What if every program that experienced a slight drop in enrollment was immediately axed? Would we be left with any subjects to study?

According to National Geographic, which created a campaign titled “My Wonderful World” in an attempt to reinstate geography into the curriculums of American schools, we need geographical education now more than ever.

Its studies found, among other things, that only 19 percent of young Americans own a map. Some more frightful realizations: Only 37 percent of young Americans can locate Iraq, despite the fact that we’ve been at war in that country for almost five years. In addition, almost half of American children don’t know where the state of New York is located. It’s time for a change.

Geography is a fundamental subject and very important to education. Should a person be able to hold a bachelor’s degree from an accredited university without knowing where Iraq is located? It’s time the University acknowledges how important the study of geography is and brings back a department that allows students to have a fuller, more well-rounded and more international education.

Can you locate the United States on a map? E-mail pbm1@pitt.edu and let him know you’ve found it.