University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Department of Geography & Anthropology

12/21/2024

Congratulations and best wishes to our graduates and to all students who are earning their degrees this fall!

12/13/2024

The 2023-2024 edition of our department newsletter "Spatial Connections" is now available! Thank you, Yvonne and Grace, for your incredible editing efforts! Click the link below to access.

Check UW-Eau Claire Geography & Anthropology 2023-2024 Newsletter from UW-Eau Claire Geography & Anthropology here. Like UW-Eau Claire Geography & Anthropology 2023-2024 Newsletter? Just add UW-Eau Claire Geography & Anthropology 2023-2024 Newsletter of UW-Eau Claire Geography & Anthropology to My F...

12/05/2024

The Department of Geography and Anthropology mourns the loss of Dr. James Brady Foust, a fierce advocate of geographic education and geographically informed solutions in the Eau Claire community and beyond. His belief in the transformative impacts of undergraduate education is reflected in the culture of the department and the enduring support of students through the Brady Foust Geospatial Analysis and Technology Scholarship.

The department sends heartfelt condolences to Brady’s wife Jeanne, children, and extended family.

Obituary: https://tributearchive.com/obituaries/33902039/james-brady-foust/eau-claire/wisconsin/lenmark-gomsrud-linn-funeral-cremation-services

Information about the Foust Scholarship: https://www.uwec.edu/stories/brady-and-jeanne-foust-donate-1m-establish-uw-eau-claire-scholarship

Dr. Brady Foust, a professor emeritus of geography at UW-Eau Claire, sees a growing need for geospatial literacy in an increasingly interdependent world.

05/18/2024

Congratulations and best wishes to our graduates and to all students who are earning their degrees this spring!

05/06/2024

Kudos to the Geography and Anthropology Club () for completing another year of service to the community through its stewardship of its adopted stretch of highway near Rock Falls.

05/02/2024

Spring field trips are underway! Dr. Zeitler’s Tourism Geography class kept it local for their excursion, doing some agritourism at Marieke Gouda (), visiting the Chippewa Moraine State Recreation Area and taking a rainy stroll on the Ice Age Trail (), and learning about terrior and enotourism from Sara at River Bend Winery and Distillery (). Thanks to our amazing hosts at each location for providing real world examples and context!

03/23/2024

The Spring 2024 Geography Field Seminar area of focus is North Carolina! A state this culturally and physically diverse make a great laboratory for applying and synthesizing pre-trip readings, discussions, and activities on site. A number of stops in the state’s three physiographic regions – the Coastal Plains, Piedmont Plateau, and Appalachian Mountains – provided a strong sense of their environments, histories, economies, and lifeways.

Locations visited in the Appalachian Mountains included:
+ Blowing Rock
+ Blue Ridge Highway
+ Asheville (downtown urban morphology and architecture, River Arts District developments)
+ The Museum of the Cherokee Nation
+ Mingo Falls
+ Great Smoky Mountains National Park
+ Chimney Rock State Park

This semester’s class is instructed by Dr. Ezra Zeitler. Dr. Ryan Weichelt provided on site field trip support. The success of this trip would not have been possible without the many local stakeholders who shared their time, knowledge, and passion with us. We are grateful for the support that the Blugold Commitment provides for experiences like this.

03/23/2024

The Spring 2024 Geography Field Seminar area of focus is North Carolina! A state this culturally and physically diverse make a great laboratory for applying and synthesizing pre-trip readings, discussions, and activities on site. A number of stops in the state’s three physiographic regions – the Coastal Plains, Piedmont Plateau, and Appalachian Mountains – provided a strong sense of their environments, histories, economies, and lifeways.

Locations visited in the Coastal Plain included:
+ Rocky Mount Mills, located on the Fall Line of the Tar River
+ Roanoke Island, home of the Lost Colony and Roanoke Island Festival Park
+ Jockey’s Ridge State Park (sand dunes)
+ Wright Brothers National Memorial
+ Rodanthe (where coastal erosion threatens some second homes)
+ Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

This semester’s class is instructed by Dr. Ezra Zeitler. Dr. Ryan Weichelt provided on site field trip support. The success of this trip would not have been possible without the many local stakeholders who shared their time, knowledge, and passion with us. We are grateful for the support that the Blugold Commitment provides for experiences like this.

03/23/2024

The Spring 2024 Geography Field Seminar area of focus is North Carolina! A state this culturally and physically diverse make a great laboratory for applying and synthesizing pre-trip readings, discussions, and activities on site. A number of stops in the state’s three physiographic regions – the Coastal Plains, Piedmont Plateau, and Appalachian Mountains – provided a strong sense of their environments, histories, economies, and lifeways.

Locations visited in the Piedmont Plateau included:
+ NC State History Museum in Raleigh
+ Stagville Historic Site (site of enslavement near Durham)
+ Duke Family Homestead (to***co farming near Durham)
+ American To***co Campus in Durham (urban redevelopment)
+ Century Furniture and the Hickory Furniture Mart in Hickory
+ Earl Scruggs Museum (legendary Bluegrass musician) in Shelby
+ The Urban Design Center in Charlotte
+ Urban redevelopment along Charlotte’s Blue Line Light Rail

This semester’s class is instructed by Dr. Ezra Zeitler. Dr. Ryan Weichelt provided on site field trip support. The success of this trip would not have been possible without the many local stakeholders who shared their time, knowledge, and passion with us. We are grateful for the support that the Blugold Commitment provides for experiences like this.

03/07/2024

The faculty and staff of the Department of Geography and Anthropology at UW-Eau Claire are honored to share that we are the recipients of the 2024 American Association of Geographers (AAG) Award for Bachelor Program Excellence! This prestigious honor reflects our commitments to:

+ Compelling vision, strong leadership, shared democratic governance, and collegiality among faculty, staff, and students.
+ Excellence in instruction, student mentorship, pedagogical innovation, and curriculum development.
+ Successful student placement with employers, graduate school, or other opportunities.
+ Pursuit of scholarship, intellectual curiosity, and the exchange of ideas through publication, conference participation, and other means.
+ Promotion of diversity, intercultural understanding, and participation of underrepresented groups.
+ Active participation in the discipline of geography and its regional and national organizations.
+ Engagement with local to global communities.
+ Enthusiastic promotion of geography on and off campus.

We send heartfelt thanks to alums Ross Guida and Emily Moothart and to Chancellor James Schmidt for providing nomination letters, to the members of the AAG Awards Committee for considering our nomination, to the university and its many units (including the College of Arts and Sciences, ORSP, IMC, CETL, LTS, Immersions, Career Services) who support our efforts, to alumni who support our efforts (newsletter contributions, scholarship donations, hosting interns, service in professional organizations, or following us on the socials), to our amazing students for continuing to foster a supportive and collaborative learning environment in the department, and to our families who support our dedication to the profession.

https://www.aag.org/2024-aag-awards-recognition

11/26/2023

🌷 Lean into spring with one or more of our introductory geography and anthropology courses! No pre-requisites for any of these courses 👍

⛰ Geography 104: Planet Earth: The Physical Environment
🥗 Geography 111: Planet Earth: Human Geography
🗺 Geography 135: Planet Earth: Our Digital Globe
🌲 Geography 178: Planet Earth: Conservation of the Environment
🏗 Geography 288: Cultural Landscapes of North America
🙌 Anthropology/American Indian Studies 161: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology

11/25/2023

The Fall 2023 Geography Field Seminar class, led by Dr. Harry Jol, headed to the Olympic Peninsula earlier this month to learn about the region’s distinctive physical, environmental, and cultural geography. Experiences included:

+ Learning about the Elwha River Dam Removal, Olympic National Park
+ Visiting the Hoh Rainforest, Olympic National Park
+ Learning about the return of the Elwha River Salmon along the banks of the Elwha River
+ Canoeing on Lake Crescent, Olympic National Park
+ Visiting Ruby Beach, Olympic National Park
+ Hiking at Tamanowas Rock Sanctuary, Jamestown S’Klallam Tribal Lands

Special thanks to NatureBridge at Olympic National Park, Martin Goettl, UWEC Geospatial Technology Facilitator, and the UWEC Blugold Commitment program for supporting and facilitating the experience!

of Wisconsin