JDMcDsblog

At Glasgow University to attend the Academic Alumni Day to mark the Geography Department’s centenary. Department seems to be in a strong position; plenty of research staff and a wide range  of human and physical interests  among the staff. Good to see some well-kent faces among the lecturers from my own undergraduate days, not least Cyril Halstead, Alastair Cruikshank and Prof Iain Thompson. (IBT)

The lecture programme for the day reflected that, starting with Professor Jim Rose on “Glasgow’s role in shaping quaternary science”, then there was a profile of current research interests. I was fascinated with Paul Bishop’s account of earth surface dynamics research whereby the density of cosmogenic nuclides are being used to date surfaces and correlate with existing data on post glacial processes. This is geomorphology at the microscale, dependent on high tech accelerators, but the results, from places like Jura and Croftamie are very exciting. This technique has been used to verify the dates of the parallel roads of Glen Roy, linking them clearly with the Loch Lomond stadial.

Next John Briggs outlined key areas of research in human geography. He stressed the importance of theory, notwithstanding the need for empirical research, too. I was taken with his emphasis on democratic urbanism and the conflicts around public spaces which arise from competing demands. He noted the dichotomy-and tension-between representative and participatory democracy; whose space is it, and who makes the decisions? It was timely that this was on a day when two so called “guerrilla gardeners” were at Court to defend an action brought by Glasgow City Council over the use of the North Kelvinside meadows;  classic example of contested space.

Made mental note to look at how we can engage with the Department in our Comenius Project, which is a celebration of urban environments