Monday, February 4, 2008

Using the Geographer's Tools to Address Local Issues

This site was set up to engage the greater Athens - Ohio University community to examine some local social issues geographically in order to better understand their nuances and help contribute to the production of knowledge - local and not-so-local.

The main issue that has been followed is the 'free speech zone' debate at OU. There are some postings below. I have been personally interested in how the zoning of speech affects traditional public forum. In this case the College Green.

Other posts explore the role of psychogeography, namely the derive (French Situationists), in deconstructing our previous perceptions of the city of Athens. By taking purposeful walks throughout the city we saw things we never experienced in the normal paths of everyday (to/from work, to/from class). By creating mathematical algorithms (i.e. first left, second right) we went out on walks and documented some of what we saw. There are many ways to do this. We also walked and traversed the path of least resistance. At any given time along the way if we felt like we should turn, especially because we felt resistant to going down a certain block, then that is what we did. I think we did it the other way, too - following the path of most resistance.

The name 'Athens Geographic Expedition' comes from the pioneering work of Bill Bunge in the cities of Detroit and Toronto with his Detroit and Toronto Geographical Expeditions. He helped to redefine how geographers could engage their work with local communitites.