There is an important but perhaps underused concept in geography known as distance decay. While this emerges most directly from Waldo Tobler's "first law of geography," it is easy enough to understand without ever having read the academic research behind it. Tobler's first law states that "everything is related to everything else, but near things … Continue reading Coronavirus 6: distance decay
Tag: Personal
A short list of children’s books
My kid loves to read books. Perhaps 'read' is the not the right word, as he is not quite two and a half years old and as yet unable to really read. He knows some letters, though, and he has amassed quite a collection of children's books already. I have tried, so far in vain, … Continue reading A short list of children’s books
Coronavirus 5: the pandemic university
This past Friday was the last day of classes at my university, though no one has set foot in a classroom here since March 13, when the University of Windsor Senate unanimously passed the Emergency Academic Plan. This waived a number of bylaw provisions that govern how faculty are supposed to teach classes, and we … Continue reading Coronavirus 5: the pandemic university
Coronavirus 3: lockdown
Things have escalated quickly with the coronavirus pandemic, and it seems the pace of events is outstripping our ability to follow them. At the same time, things are grinding to a halt as local lockdowns expand into restrictions on national and global mobility and social distancing means many people are spending a lot of time … Continue reading Coronavirus 3: lockdown
Three years and six days
In the week before the 2016 US general election, I took to Facebook with a series of posts that were meant to capture "America in Six Days," or at least, one idiosyncratic vision of America (mine) as witnessed through six cultural artifacts, plus a seventh bonus day in the immediate wake of the election. I … Continue reading Three years and six days
Triana
I have been many kinds of tourist. I dutifully read David Foster Wallace's "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again" before embarking on my own week-long Caribbean cruise, though my cynicism at the mass marketed tourist experience could, in the end, not match Wallace's. I have been the thrill seeker who pays a pretty … Continue reading Triana
Loretto (a poem)
I've spent a lot of time in my senior seminar course in the early part of this semester talking about writing, and specifically about the limits and foibles of academic social science writing. I encouraged the students to read widely and write write write, including reading and writing things that challenge their normal interests and … Continue reading Loretto (a poem)
Research update
So far this summer I have spent a lot of time traveling, as well as many, many hours dealing with technical and bureaucratic headaches associated with a new IT system at my university. It has been challenging not just to find time to write meaningful and interesting blog posts here, but also to get research … Continue reading Research update
On becoming Canadian
We arrive 10 minutes before the appointed 1:00 pm deadline on my invitation letter. It reads less as an invitation and more as a list of instructions, but represents the final step on my road to Canadian citizenship. The large waiting room is already packed, families in nice clothes, children laughing and running around, those … Continue reading On becoming Canadian
How (not) to conference
In early April, I once again attended the annual meeting of the American Association of Geographers (AAG), this time in Washington, DC. While there, I presented, along with my research assistant/co-author, a paper on the geographies of rotationality in the US and Canadian foreign services. Rotationality is a basic condition of work in almost all … Continue reading How (not) to conference
