Department of Geography

Elyse Gordon, a geography doctoral student at the UW, wants to inspire younger people to get involved in their communities.

Despite China's efforts to ease decades-old curbs on the movements of its rural population, the world's most populous country could see its ranks of internal migrants swell to dangerous levels over the next decade, a new research report says.

In an op-ed piece, Dick Morrill, professor emeritus of geography, looks at Seattle's population growth over 64 years, the changing character of the population, 1970 and 2010, and the planning context for growth.

During a visit to the Canadian Arctic to study Inuktitut, the Inuit language, students experienced firsthand the language's connection to the land.

This fall, the University Honors Program welcomed a new director, Victoria Lawson, professor of geography, internationally-recognized scholar on global poverty and co-founder of the Relational Poverty Network.

A new study by the UW and the U.N. says by 2100, there could be an extra 4 billion people roaming the planet - making it difficult to discern whether Earth will have enough resources to support the birth of practically another planet-worth of people.

Local governments in China have taken to forced urbanisation with relish in their rush to acquire precious land. Kam Wing Chan, professor of geography, is quoted.

Some have questioned whether migrants are fairly represented in Shanghai test results. Kam Wing Chan, professor of geography, is quoted.

China's leaders reaffirmed their intention to turn urbanization into a powerful engine to drive growth and remake the economy, saying they would encourage rural residents to move to smaller cities, rather than Beijing, Shanghai and other megacities.

Seattle's new council districts were drawn up by former geography professor Richard Morrill. He says they were created with racial fairness as a top priority.

Seattle Charter Amendment 19 seeks to change the way City Council members are elected, from all at-large to seven geographic council districts with two at-large positions.Geography professor emeritus Richard Morrill drew up the map.

Seattle passed San Francisco as the top big city in the nation for the percentage of same-sex couple households. UW geography professor Michael Brown weighs in on what the change means.

Data released by the U.S. Census Bureau shows that, for the second year in a row, the poverty rate for the U.S. remained stable at 15 percent in 2012. There were no statistically significant changes in the poverty rate by race, age, sex, nativity or disability status.

Geography professor Kam Wing Chan discusses the little known "hukou," a small document that could have a big impact on keeping China's poor from joining the middle class.

An interest in social justice led Sam Nowak (BA, Geography) to the Department of Geography, where he pursued research on issues of inequality, particularly among Seattle's homeless and other marginalized populations.