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A case for Empathetic Geography

Session 1
Steve Goldberg
3 (Room 401)

Five years ago, I met a 90 year old Holocaust survivor from Bialobrzegi, Poland, and we became close friends. The time I took to understand where Bialobrzegi is located and what life was like in Poland, as well as the location and conditions of the three slave labor camps where he was forced to work as a teenager allowed be me to ask better questions and build a stronger relationship. Similarly, to understand a current event, such as Gaza and Israel and the West Bank, for example, a sense of the geography of the Middle East is crucial. Similarly, to understand Ukraine today, it's necessary to know what the "Donbas" region of Ukraine is and how Crimea fits into the picture, as well as where major cities and rivers are located.

Conversational Practice

Conversational Practice After I provide a few examples of how Geography can lead to Empathy, we will break into groups and each person in the group will tell the other group members about a place that they care about, using a map as a visual aid. Participants will be encouraged to slow down and look closely at the map and the surrounding areas and ask questions of each presenter. We will come back together to talk about what we learned from that exercise and how teachers and students can better empathize in our communities if we take time to understand the geography that matters to each member of the community.

We will come back together to talk about what we learned from that exercise and how teachers and students can better empathize in our communities if we take time to understand the geography that matters to each member of the community.

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Presenter Profiles

Steve Goldberg
Steve Goldberg

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