User:McStargazer

PREFACE

With a masters in physics, thousands of hours of planetarium experience as both a volunteer and an employee, and nearing the end of a PhD in geography, my love of all of the above has led me to ask, "Can these different worlds be combined? Astronomy and space, with geographical thinking?" After recently teaching an experimental intersession class on these subjects at my university, I believe the answer is a definitive, YES! And, 'ExoGeography' is the best term I've found for it.

However, I found myself in need of reading materials for my students to stimulate discussion, and I believe Wikibooks is a great way to get started. Gathering these articles into a book is the reason I've created my Wikipedia logon in the first place. And, for now, this user description page is mostly about the book...

WORKING DEFINITION of EXOGEOGRAPHY

My working definition of exogeography will greatly affect my choice of articles in the collection. So, you need some idea as to what I think it is. Let me share the following exogeography course description for a class I'll be teaching in the spring semester of 2014:


 * "Using the grand traditions of geographical thinking we will explore the politics, economics, science, environments, and resources of space. Two areas of special focus will be: 1) How may becoming a space-faring civilization bring greater sustainability to human and natural systems? And, 2) what is the path to becoming a multi-planetary society? Every class period will feature lectures, discussion, and hands-on activities. The only prerequisite is a curiosity about our connection to the sky above and how we might one day be living there."

Expanding on this course description, I would state that exogeography looks at humankind's presence in space through the lenses of spatial analysis, human-environment interaction, regional studies, and the physical sciences. As in Earth-based geography, exogeography comes in two flavors: human, and physical. The human exogeography realm extends from space-related economics, politics, and culture both on Earth and throughout space, while the physical exogeography realm begins at the Armstrong limit at about 20km above the Earth's surface, and to all points beyond. Exogeography encourages us to view other worlds and orbits to, from, and around them less abstractly, and more as real places with resources and hazards.

With these ideas for a working definition in mind, I invite you to take a look at my INTRODUCTORY READINGS IN EXOGEOGRAPHY wikibook! If you are thinking of teaching from it, or want a deeper understanding of why the articles are the way they are, I encourage you to look over my teaching notes below and/or contact me. Enjoy!

TEACHING NOTES


 * Much blending of the disjointed nature of the articles should be done by the instructor, and much of the framework for understanding and using the material can be constructed through class discussions and assignments.
 * This material is probably best covered at a junior or higher level... after a solid base in geography is achieved.
 * Rely on the students to help put the pieces together! The article-based nature of this wikibook collection leads very naturally to giving the students assignments to clarify, extend, and connect the pieces.
 * I don't believe in classes without "hands-on" activities! So, I've included a section in the book called "The Active ExoGeographer". The citizen science article is meant to send students out searching for ways to contribute to our future in space by creating knowledge, and the wikipedia community portal article is to encourage students to be participants through researching and curating our exogeographical knowledge.
 * Notably missing is ground-based tourism with places like: the Kennedy Space Center, or Arizona Meteor Crater. These might be included in the "Intimate Connections with the Sky" section of the collection, but the collection already comes in at over 1000 pages printed. I had to draw some lines somewhere to an introductory collection. Perhaps myself or a reader with more time will construct a page on astrotourism? That single page that links to others could then be comfortably inserted into the collection.
 * Other missing articles? Certainly there are many other thinkers and doers out there that are worthy of mention! Popular culture? An entire class could be devoted to film and other media connecting humanity with space.