Geographer edits reference handbook

Contact: Jeanne Baron
Photo of Dr. Joseph , WMU.

Stoltman

KALAMAZOO--Dr. Joseph P. Stoltman, Western Michigan University professor of geography and science education, is the editor of 21st-Century Geography: A Reference Handbook, published earlier this year by Sage Publications.

The two-volume publication includes 70 chapters and four appendices that discuss and analyze topics pertinent to the discipline of geography as it enters the new century. They highlight the most important topics, issues, questions and debates students obtaining a geography degree ought to have mastered for effectiveness in the 21st century.

Chapters range from the changing role of physical geography within the discipline to the dynamics of global urbanization. Each chapter reviews the traditions, the current research and professional activity, and the projections for the development and continuation of the geographic topic over the next several decades.

The volumes are meant to be print reference books for libraries, but 21st-Century Geography also has been selected to be among the inaugural set of titles for the Sage online books platform.

Joseph P. Stoltman

Stoltman directs WMU's master of arts in teaching geography program and is widely recognized as a scholar and an expert in geographic education. His current research includes the analysis and mapping of the impact of content standards and statewide assessment on geography inclusion and student geography achievement in Michigan.

A faculty member since 1971, Stoltman is a WMU Distinguished Faculty Scholar and former geography department chair who has a joint appointment in the Mallinson Institute for Science Education. He serves as editor of Research in Geographic Education, co-editor of International Research in Geography and Environmental Education, and co-coordinator of the Michigan Geographic Alliance, which seeks to enhance geographic literacy in Michigan among students and young adults.

Stoltman earned a bachelor's degree from Central Washington University and a doctoral degree from the University of Georgia.