Hey, everyone! Good Monday morning. Get yer reading glasses: this is a long “what’s new” update with lots of important information!
I begin my message with a paired adieu and welcome. For any of you who have spent any time at all in Stewart Hall, you’ll know Theresa Hathman, whose job title is custodian, but whose job really entails making sure we all enjoy a clean, safe workplace. Well, Theresa is leaving us to work at the University’s Energy Management division which, by the way, provides electricity to more than 15 million square feet of campus buildings. Congratulations on this new position, Theresa…and welcome to Dorothy Arndt, Stewart Hall’s new custodian. If you are able, drop by the custodian’s office on the second floor and introduce yourself to Dorothy!
Next, some very exciting news! In collaboration with the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies (WGST), the Department of Geography has been approved to interview three candidates for a post-doctoral position in feminist geography! The interviews will be conducted in mid-February, and you will be invited to the public research talk, which will have 30 minutes at the end for small-group interaction. I will send out the candidate materials as well as additional information on the schedule as soon as it is available. In the meantime, please join me in thanking Dr. Mike Urban and Dr. Matt Foulkes for serving on the committee with WGST that made these selections out of the total pool of candidates.
And now…drumroll, please…we’ve got events for ya! A big thanks to Dr. Doug Hurt, Abby Hunt (Wheeler Ambassador), and Deb Cutler for putting the slate of Spring 2021 events together. Mark your calendars now! Expect Zoom invites a little closer to time.
Monday, March 8 at 4PM: Geography Department Colloquium with Dr. Jen Jack Gieseking. Hailing from the University of Kentucky Department of Geography, geographer Dr. Gieseking will speak about his work on queer geographies and crowdsourced mapping in New York City, which is featured in his recent book, A Queer New York: Geographies of Lesbians, Dykes, and Queers, 1983-2008. A happy hour to follow from 5-6PM with breakout rooms will allow everyone to have some time with Dr. Gieseking in a small group setting.
Mon March 22 at 4PM: Dedication of the Kit Salter Studio. Dr. Christopher (Kit) Salter is professor emeritus of geography and former chairperson of the department from 1980-2002. Some of Mizzou’s own geography faculty took courses from Dr. Salter back in the day! (I’ll let you guess who those faculty are…) Dr. Salter and his wife, Cathy, still live in the area but will be moving to California in the relatively near future. So, we are honoring Dr. Salter by installing a large map board in Stewart Hall that can display photographs from our fieldwork, study abroad, world travels, and other adventures. Come one, come all to this special dedication of the “Kit Salter Studio” and be the first to pin your pic on the board!
Mon April 19 at 4PM: Heidelberg Research Council. A fun happy hour of trivia, dishing, prizes, and surprise guests! For all Geography students, faculty, staff, and alums. On Zoom.
Friday May 7 at 3:30PM: Department Spring Celebration. Our traditional end-of-year blowout features a celebration of our graduating class, student awards, and a bar-b-cue to follow the formal proceedings. Now, we would be foolish to make any promises, so let me just say that our hope is to be able to have at least some of our celebration in person this May. More information about the location and details of this event will be available closer to time—and fingers crossed!
We’re hoping you join us for some—if not all—of these events! In the meantime, hope you have a great third week of the semester and don’t forget the most important thing: Rock On!!!!
M-I-Z!
G-E-O!
Soren
