Department of Geography and Geoinformation Science, George Mason University

The Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning at George Mason University invited me to be a guest on their podcast, Keystone Concepts in Teaching: A Higher Education Podcast from the Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning! Their podcast is focused on discussing and sharing impactful teaching strategies that support all students and faculty. In my episode, Episode 15: Teaching Strategies Creating Access to STEM Courses, Prof. Kelly Knight and Dr. Christine Rosenfeld chatted with the host, Dr. Rachel Yoho, about how we might increase access to courses, even those in STEM like labs and field experiences. Check it out here!
https://stearnscenter.gmu.edu/season-2-spring-2025-keystone-concepts-in-teaching/

Hurry over to 2nd floor Exploratory Hall open area!

Join us today for our Geography and Geoinformation Science Department Welcome! Stop by for some free goodies and pizza between 12-2:00pm today Tuesday September 3rd.

Summer internship opportunities! Information session will be held TOMORROW, Thursday 2/29 3:30-4:30pm.

Happy Holidays from the GGS Department!

Swing by the 2nd-floor open space outside the GGS Office for a free sticker sheet to celebrate.

Just two days until GIS Day! All attendees will receive this free t-shirt and Mason sticker sheet. Register at the link in bio. We hope to see you there! Register at the link below:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfBX34UKovIc7mdPSuykHtkVfqbN98i9UCwq5TzpM61GRjnaw/viewform

We have a great line-up of employers - featuring several Mason alumni - who are eager to meet you on GIS Day. Register at the link below so you can see where a degree from GGS can take you.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfBX34UKovIc7mdPSuykHtkVfqbN98i9UCwq5TzpM61GRjnaw/viewform

REMINDER!!! Registration for GIS Day is now open! Chat with GGS faculty and students, learn more about GGS programs, and network with professionals in the field. All are welcome.

🚨 🚨 Registration for GIS Day is now open! Chat with GGS faculty and students, learn more about GGS programs, and network with professionals in the field. All are welcome. Register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfBX34UKovIc7mdPSuykHtkVfqbN98i9UCwq5TzpM61GRjnaw/viewform

Attention all graduate students! Join us for a graduate information session where we will cover important information about coursework requirements as well as deadlines. The session will finish before 4:30 classes. Light refreshments will be served. Register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScp73hSTGJD8hV3gd5-Eg0z0Q4-Qv1FGbsqHMWUNzrhzlN4bA/viewform

A large 184.8 × 130.8 cm (72 3/4 × 51 1/2 in.) 1799 map of South America on display at Thomas Jefferson’s home at Monticello. Compiled by William Faden (1750-1836), it was essentially a copy of another map laid out and engraved by Juan de la Cruz Cano y Olmedilla of Spain in 1775.

Historians at Monticello offer more information on this fascinating map:

In 1786, while serving as minister to France, Jefferson received Cruz Cano's map of South America from William Carmichael and sought to have copies made for himself and Congress. Jefferson enlisted William Stephens Smith, John Adams's son-in-law who was then living in London, to help him commission the London mapmaker William Faden to make these copies. In a letter to Smith, Jefferson described the map and its importance:

“The government of Spain at first permitted the map, but the moment they saw one of them come out, they destroyed the plates, seized all of the few copies which had got out and on which they could lay their hands, and issued the severest injunctions to call in the rest and to prevent their going abroad. Some few copies escaped their search. A friend has by good management procured me one, and it has arrived safe through all the searches that travellers are submitted to.”

Sight unseen, Faden agreed to reproduce all twelve sheets of the map. In December 1786, Jefferson sent the map to Faden in care of Smith, and drew up a set of suggestions for republishing the map, including three sketches of the proposed layout of the sheets.

Thirteen years later, in 1799, Faden published his copy of Cruz Cano's work, but he neither sent Jefferson the copies he requested nor returned the original. Jefferson, who had enlisted friends such as James Madison to inquire as to Faden's progress, resorted to buying a copy from a London map dealer in 1805 — nineteen years after sending the original to Faden. Publication of the controversial map may have been delayed because of Faden's position as geographer to the King.

Congratulations to all 2023 graduates! If you’re a GGS graduate, don’t forget to drop by the office before finals end to get your customizable grad gift.