The Concordian

Professor of Geography Joseph Manzo poses with the globe. [Click to enlarge]

Does the media influence geography? If so, how? Those questions and others were discussed at the recent Association of American Geographers annual meeting in Las Vegas in March.

Joseph T. Manzo, professor of geography and co-coordinator for the West Virginia Geographic Alliance presented information at a session he chaired on how the media influences geography.

Manzo, who uses a variety of media in his classroom and teaches a class titled “Geography Goes to the Movies,” presented research on “Video and the Themes of Geography.”

Manzo collaborated with colleagues from the University of Kansas, University of Oklahoma, United States Military Academy, University of Rouen (France) and University of Le Havre (France).

Several conclusions reached from the group’s presentations included: documentaries, as with “big budget” movies, demonstrate bias; and first world people are as culture bound as third-world people.

Manzo says, “The session was both informative and practical providing me with ideas to take back to my classroom at Concord University.” Manzo was selected as Professor of the Year for 2005 in West Virginia by the Faculty Merit Foundation.

The Association of American Geographers (AAG) is a nonprofit scientific and educational society founded in 1904. For 100 years the AAG has contributed to the advancement of geography. Its members from more than 60 countries share interests in the theory, methods and practice of geography that they cultivate through the AAG’s annual meeting, two scholarly journals (Annals of the Association of American Geographers and The Professional Geographer) and a monthly AAG Newsletter.

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