Copy
Share
Tweet
Share
Forward
/// A Newsletter of Delights ///
 
We've got a jam-packed selection of delights for you in this month's newsletter, starting with a promo for our next Inspiring People speaker, Professor Wade Davis, a former National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence. His talks promise to be insightful and enlightening, and a MUST SEE for anyone interested in people, places and culture!

But that's not all. We've got the latest from our new Young Geographer project and a riveting Collections Corner from our Writer-in-Residence. There's also a BBC radio and television broadcast for your ears and eyes to feast on with notable contributions from RSGS...

Finally, there's information about a Scottish Government inquiry we've been involved in bringing about, and a featured blog about the RSGS collection of glass lantern slides 
A Box of Delights!  
Prof Wade Davis
Across the first week of March, the 'Attenborough of Anthropology' will be speaking in Scotland as part of our Inspiring People talks programme. 

Professor Wade Davis is a writer, photographer, filmmaker and scholar of worldwide repute. His work as an anthropologist and a National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence has taken him from the Amazon to Tibet, Africa to Australia, to Burma and beyond to visit some of the most remote and remarkable people living on Planet Earth. And along the way, he’s authored more than 20 books about his travels, made countless documentaries, lectured at over 200 universities and scooped some of the most distinguished research and exploration medals the world has to offer.

In other words, you won't regret coming along to hear this inspiring, world-class speaker in Aberdeen, Dundee, Dunfermline, Glasgow or Edinburgh! Tickets via Eventbrite or on the door!
Tickets
Young Geographer Magazine
In mid February, we held the second meeting of our new Young Geographer Editorial Board. The theme of their magazine will be the Arctic, to tie in with the Scottish Government’s current policy work in the region. In the coming months, with support from RSGS staff, the Editorial Board will be commissioning a series of articles on Arctic issues, and designing a modern and informative magazine to distribute to RSGS contacts in Scotland and beyond. Follow us on social media for updates on the project #YoungGeographer.
Collections Corner
Written by RSGS Writer-in-Residence Jo Woolf FRSGS



“I am forming a plan for getting farther into the mountains… There is a most romantic place called Estes Park, at a height of 7,500 feet, which can be reached by going down to the plains and then striking up the St Vrain Canyon…”   (Isabella Bird, 1873)

 

High in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, Estes Park was named after Joel Estes and his son, Milton, who went there looking for gold in 1859. They found no fortune, but built a cattle ranch and moved in with their family. This was an untamed, unforgiving country of long bitter winters, demanding hardiness and total self-sufficiency of its inhabitants. With the nearest town a couple of days’ ride away over difficult country, arguments were often settled at gunpoint and questions asked later, if at all.

Read Blog
RSGS on the BBC
In mid-February, following their recent adventures with Outward Bound Oman, RSGS Volunteer Ellie Kirkland and our Communications Officer James Cave spoke on BBC Radio Scotland about their experiences in the desert.
 
On the BBC's Great British Railway Journeys, our Honorary Fellow Michael Portillo interviewed our Writer-in-Residence Jo Woolf on Cumbrae Harbour about the life and exploits of William Spiers Bruce, himself an RSGS Gold Medallist.
 
Education Inquiry
Over recent years, the RSGS has grown concerned about a narrowing of subject choice in schools, and about some of the impacts of budget cuts and curriculum change on Geography and its uptake. In our discussions with a wide range of education bodies and practitioners, there seems to be a widely held belief that the curriculum has narrowed significantly, that pupils in different schools and local authority areas are not getting the same opportunities, and that some of the earlier years of secondary school do not provide sufficient challenge or focus. Owing to this pressure, the Scottish Government has opened an inquiry into this matter. We will be working to respond to this and will continue to meet with senior civil servants and the Scottish Association of Geography Teachers to help move this discussion forward.
 
If you would like to voice your opinions on this matter, please click on the big blue button below. The deadline for responses is Monday 4 March.
Education Inquiry
A Box of Delights!

Written by RSGS Collections Volunteer Jane Griffiths
 

On a wet Monday morning at the RSGS offices in Perth I am about to investigate the contents of another box of the Society’s glass lantern slides. There is always a sense of anticipation! I open a small box labelled Lapps. The first slide is that of a Sami herdsman standing in the snow beside a reindeer with enormous antlers almost as tall as he is. He sports a beautiful four-cornered hat, called a Four Winds hat, typical of Sami dress in Northern Norway. In subsequent slides reindeer are herded, families fish, make camp and collect traditional shoe grass for insulating footwear. But perhaps the most engaging slide is the simplest: a group of small children snuggling around a dog in the smoky interior of their tent or gamme. Read on...
 

Copyright © 2019 Royal Scottish Geographical Society, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
Royal Scottish Geographical Society
Lord John Murray House
15-19 North Port
Perth, PH1 5LU
United Kingdom

Add us to your address book


Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

Email Marketing Powered by Mailchimp