Situatedgeographer is my (Richard Donohue) academic web space. I am pursuing a Ph.D. in the Department of Geography at UW-Madison, with a Ph.D.
minor in Science and Technology Studies (STS). My scholarship
in critical cartography and geographic information systems (GIS) bridges the technical
practices
of mapping with a theoretical critique informed by human geography and science and technology studies (STS).
Geography is the study of place. The academic discipline is typically split into two subfields: human and physical. Human geography is similar other “soft” social sciences such as anthropology, sociology, or political science. By contrast, physical geographers have more in common with the “hard” natural scientists who study geology, atmospheric science, or earth sciences. Other subfields work between these artificial disciplinary boundaries. People-environment geography takes an explicitly interdisciplinary approach to study the interconnections between humans and their environments. All geographic sub-fields, however, share a common commitment to investigating and speculating upon the nature of place and its meaning for the human experience.
Also central to the discipline of geography are maps. While all people create, understand, and use maps, geography's emphasis on place, space, bordering, scale, and landscape inform a great deal of cartographic and mapping processes. UW-Madison's Department of Geography has trained and hosted many great map-makers over the last century.
