Geography Profs Are Usually Excellent

While I was reading an inspiring post on my friend Heidi's blog, I was struck by an interesting pattern in good teachers. My sample population is pretty small and in no way useful for a research study, but I've found that Geography professors are usually excellent. There is no doubt about it. Two out of three of my Geography experiences have been inspiring, thanks largely to the influence (and estimable character) of the professors involved. The other experience, I feel, is only limited by virtue of its internet setting - online classes are the worst. But that is another rant story.

In case anyone does want to undertake a research project regarding the whys and wherefores of this claim, I have drawn up a few hypotheses to help you apply for grants:

Geography professors are usually excellent because:

1. They study everything. Geography is the broadest discipline that ever was. It covers everything from mushrooms to skyscrapers. It is a discipline which provides scope for a healthy thirst for knowledge.

2. They're a perfect mix of Arts and Sciences. They're not always entrenched in their labs with beakers of nitroglycerin and scribbling chalkboard sized equations, nor are they always torturing the written word in order to wrench grand abstractions from it. What follows is an obviously logical syllogism: well balanced people are usually excellent, and geographers are always well balanced people. Therefore, geographers are usually excellent.

3.They often do field work. Literally. Maybe it's just because I'm an English major, but there must be something strongly bucolic about digging holes for soil samples in the grassy wilderness, with the animals frolicking around you and the smell of honest dirt. If you prefer the city, fear not. As per hypothesis number one, geographers work in the city as well, right in the middle of the bustling, hustling, rustling crowds.They know the world from first hand experience, and that's where the good stories in class come from.

4.  A handful of weather geographers do tornado chasing. I think the outright coolness of this is self-explanatory.


Note that these hypotheses may be interconnected factors in the usual excellence of Geography professors. In the course of your research, you may also find that I have been exaggerating shamelessly all along, but there are a few grains of truth sprinkled here and there. In the meantime, happy researching!