Susan W. Hardwick

Heterolocalism, Networks of Ethnicity, and Refugee Communities in the Pacific Northwest: The Portland Story*

Abstract Geographic studies of refugee issues have emerged as salient topics of inquiry in the past decade. This spatial analysis of the migration experiences and heterolocal settlement patterns of refugees in an increasingly diverse part of the Pacific Northwest focuses on a place that the Atlantic Monthly recently called the last Caucasian bastion in the United States. Perceived as a region better known for its dense forests, progressive environmental policies, and rural ambience, the Portland metropolitan area and its hinterland in the Willamette Valley now resonate with ethnic and racial diversity. This article analyzes the spatial patterns and related networks of the three largest refugee groups in the region. Findings indicate that an overlapping and interrelated set of political, social, cultural, and economic networks are the most important factors in determining refugee residential patterns.

African, Russian, and Ukrainian Refugee Resettlement in Portland, Oregon

Abstract. The residential patterns, adaptation experiences, and impacts of immigrants on North American cities have been well documented in the geographical literature. In this article, we build on prior work by testing the theories of Gaim Kibreab, who identified three factors that shape the experiences of recent refugees: attitudes of the receiving society; current policy environments; and employment opportunities in local communities. We analyze some of the ways in which these factors operate as interrelated systems for two comparative groups of foreign‐born migrants in Portland, Oregon: sub‐Saharan Africans; and Russians and Ukrainians. Using a mixed‐methods approach, we triangulate data from a blend of in‐depth interviews, participant observation in the community and at refugee and immigrant social service agencies, census and other statistical records, and cartographic analyses to report on the findings of our work. Data suggest that the residential, economic, and social spaces of new refugees are constructed as a complex multiplicity of networks and relationships that link time and place

Humanising the Technology Landscape through a Collaborative Pedagogy.

A major shift in educational paradigms from a competitive model to a more collaborative model is now under way in higher education. Using collaborative theories espoused by Freire, Bruffee and other scholars working outside the discipline of geography, this paper presents an argument for integrating their collaborative approach into distance education courses at the postgraduate level. The Step Up to Geography Through Distance Learning project is used to provide one innovative model that integrates not only the collaborative method of instruction, but also the use of a multi-layered system of instructional technologies including use of desktop videoconferencing and the Internet.

Discourse, Identity, and “Homeland as Other” at the Borderlands

A critical reading of the relationships between social identity theory and the shifting national identities of immigrants residing in a borderland region illustrates the processes involved in linking identity construction, international migration, and context. This spatially grounded discursive study builds on the notion that identities are constructed not only as attachments to particular places or nations, and an eagerness to grasp and hold onto dominant ideologies, but also as disidentifications with other peoples and places. Canada is now home to the largest number of U.S.-born immigrants in more than two-and-a-half decades. The northward movement of war resisters, draft dodgers, and others from the United States to Canada during the Vietnam War years was the largest politically motivated outmigration of U.S. citizens in history. In more recent years, political and economic migrants (including soldiers avoiding the war in Iraq) continue to leave the United States for permanent residency in Canada. They are attracted by their perceptions of Canadas more liberal political system, multicultural policies, support of gay and lesbian rights, prosperous real estate market, and universal health care. Using multimodal discourse analysis, this article reads and reports on data from narrative interviews, focus group discussions, and open-ended survey questionnaires to analyze identity construction in a borderland region.

Gender vs. Sex Differences: Factors Affecting Performance in Geographic Education

Abstract Much has been written about sex differences in learning, but less attention has been paid to the impacts of gender—which is socially constructed—on learning geography. This article investigates whether differences in gender influence performance on a standardized test of geography knowledge. Undergraduate students in two large clases completed a standardized inventory of gender differences and then completed a standardized test of geography knowledge. The results of our analysis of the correlation between gender traits and geographic learning resulted in somewhat unexpected results, as well as a set of complex questions for further research on learning styles in geographic education.

Delivering Geography Courses Internationally.

Increasing interest is being shown in developing distance learning courses within geography. Emerging educational technologies, based on the Internet, seemingly lie at the root of much of this interest. Experience of providing distance learning materials argues, however, that technology should not be the central concern for groups wishing to develop distance learning programmes. Other issues are more important. These include defining the model of distance learning they wish to develop, developing appropriate educational strategies, and establishing appropriate business and organisational models. Developing distance learning programmes that are intended to operate across national boundaries adds considerably to the challenges involved.

Internationalizing Professional Development in Geography through Distance Education

This paper assesses the value and relevance of geography education in the realm of professional development. It explores the potential of distance education to support lifelong learners through courses or modules that operate across international boundaries and incorporate materials from local and global contexts. The authors argue that Internet-enabled distance education offers the potential to extend access to many prospective students who are unlikely or unable to participate in full-time residential courses, and that distance education can facilitate international collaboration among educators and educational institutions. A case is made for an internationalized programme of study for continuing adult education, as opposed to the primary, secondary and higher education sectors that are the focus of most existing geographical education programmes. Next, the authors document the ways in which recent commitments to internationalizing teaching and learning in geography have brought us to the point where professional development of lifelong learners is demonstrable, particularly in the fields of geographic information technologies and teacher professional development. They outline some of the main challenges that must be addressed if the potential of distance education as an enabling tool for professional development in geography is to be fulfilled: specifically, collaborative development and delivery of curricula and the articulation of quality assurance standards and certification agreements among participating institutions.

Fuzzy Transnationals? American Settlement, Identity, and Belonging in Canada

More Americans now reside in Canada than at any time since the Vietnam War. This article documents and analyzes the migration, settlement, and identity of US-born residents in three Canadian cities. My work helps fill the gap in the scholarly literature on issues related to international migration at the Canadian–US borderlands. The articles overarching goal is to illustrate that transnationality, as exhibited by US immigrants in Canada, is far more complex than prior studies of transnational identity have indicated. Findings from this study indicate that transnational linkages and identities are geographically and temporally contingent and are, as such, a reflection of both time and place. My comparison of the shifting identities of American migrants who reside in three different metropolitan areas in Canada allows a more critical analysis of the ever-shifting terrain of transnational identities as they are expressed in different contexts. Data analyzed for this study were compiled from the Canadian census for the years 1961 through 2006, survey questionnaires, unstructured and structured interviews, and on-site field work.

Mapping the Journey Toward Self-Authorship in Geography

Learning is a developmental journey, and geography curriculum plays a key role in supporting student progression. In this article, we argue that the concept of ‘self-authorship’ is a useful guiding principle in supporting curriculum revision and reform. A series of international case studies illustrate how self-authorship can be enacted in different ways within geography curricula in a range of contexts. The role of a range of collaborators and the co-curriculum in supporting the student journey are highlighted. The article concludes by suggesting that the key strength of the concept is its non-prescriptive nature.

NODAL HETEROLOCALISM AND TRANSNATIONALISM AT THE UNITED STATES-CANADIAN BORDER*

ABSTRACT. Since the late 1990s Wilbur Zelinskys theory of “heterolocalism’ has provided human geographers and other social scientists with a new approach to analyzing the spatial patterns and ethnic identities of recent immigrants in the United States. Zelinskys heterolocal model suggests that, to a degree unknown in the past, new migrants in North American cities may choose to settle in widely dispersed places, rather than in more concentrated ethnic enclaves, while maintaining their ethnic identities. This article expands on and critiques prior work on heterolocalism in Oregon by examining the spatial patterns, ethnic and religious identities, and transnational relationships of two recent refugee groups in three urban areas in the Pacific Northwest. Using data from U.S. and Canadian census records, refugee resettlement agency files, survey questionnaires, structured and unstructured interviews, and participant observation with post‐Soviet Russians and Ukrainians in the Vancouver, British Columbia, Seattle, Washington, and Portland, Oregon metropolitan areas, I analyze the spatial patterns and related social networks that define the identities and residential and religious spaces of these groups to test the efficacy of relating heterolocalism and transnationalism across an international boundary.