Life & Letters

Department of Geography and the Environment

  • A Space to Call Home

    Take a walk through the new College of Liberal Arts Building, and the building feels as fresh and modern as it feels warm and lived-in—an impressive feat for a place that just opened in January. “This is our shot at greatness,” says Randy Diehl, dean of the College of Liberal Arts. “This building ensures that…

    Molly Wahlberg

  • Moving Forward in the Face of Challenge

    Higher education has seen its share of challenges over the past half-decade. The global financial crisis that began in 2007 sent tremors across every campus in the country, causing us not only to tighten our belts but to rethink fundamental models of teaching, research and service that have guided our mission for more than a…

    Randy Diehl

  • It’s Not the End of the World…

    Doomsday scenarios make better fiction than science, says researcher Karl Butzer For more than 50 years Karl Butzer, a renowned environmental archaeologist at The University of Texas at Austin, has trekked across continents, sifted through countless excavations and pored over collections in some of the world’s greatest libraries and museums in a quest to better…

    David Ochsner

  • Books: Winter, Spring and Summer 2012

    Winter, Spring and Summer 2012 titles from our college community.

    Molly Wahlberg

  • Close to the Land

    Working in Botswana’s villages and countryside, geographer Kelley Crews explores how ongoing changes affect its people and ecosystems The people of the Okavango River Delta region of Botswana live close to the land. The delta’s watery fingers provide water for crops and livestock. They draw wildlife that sustain the tourism industry and they grow grasses…

    Tim Green