Derek H. Alderman
@derekgeographer.bsky.social
Chancellor's Prof. at Univ. of Tennessee, Former Pres. of AAG, Geographer of Memory, Race, Social Justice, Naming, Mapping, Tourism, SE USA http://mlkstreet.com http://tourismreset.com https://derekalderman.com/
Reposted by Derek H. Alderman
"When you rename the Gulf, you're talking about extending territory in a symbolic sense...that you simply & in a unilateral way rename a place, claim it, that's a pretty old process that's been going on since the days of colonializations"
@derekgeographer.bsky.social
eu.usatoday.com/story/news/n...
@derekgeographer.bsky.social
eu.usatoday.com/story/news/n...
The Gulf of What? Has Trump's name change caught on?
It's been a year since President Trump renamed the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. We asked people along its shores what they actually call it.
eu.usatoday.com
February 9, 2026 at 1:32 PM
"When you rename the Gulf, you're talking about extending territory in a symbolic sense...that you simply & in a unilateral way rename a place, claim it, that's a pretty old process that's been going on since the days of colonializations"
@derekgeographer.bsky.social
eu.usatoday.com/story/news/n...
@derekgeographer.bsky.social
eu.usatoday.com/story/news/n...
Women have been mapping the world for centuries – and now they’re speaking up for the people left out of those maps
theconversation.com/women-have-b...
theconversation.com/women-have-b...
Women have been mapping the world for centuries – and now they’re speaking up for the people left out of those maps
Women have moved from mapmakers using their bodies to depict maps to being leaders shaping the field of cartography.
theconversation.com
February 4, 2026 at 4:05 PM
Women have been mapping the world for centuries – and now they’re speaking up for the people left out of those maps
theconversation.com/women-have-b...
theconversation.com/women-have-b...
Two geographers @geographers.bsky.social weigh in on gpush to rename U.S. places for Donald Trump. From “toponymic narcissism” to a political tribute-paying. Honored to join Reuben Rose-Redwood to explain why this naming moment is unprecedented & deeply political. www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...
What's in a name? Plenty, when that name is 'Trump.'
'Toponymic narcissism' describes someone's obsession with naming things after themselves. Trump's name now seems to be everywhere.
www.usatoday.com
January 24, 2026 at 4:09 AM
Two geographers @geographers.bsky.social weigh in on gpush to rename U.S. places for Donald Trump. From “toponymic narcissism” to a political tribute-paying. Honored to join Reuben Rose-Redwood to explain why this naming moment is unprecedented & deeply political. www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...
Reposted by Derek H. Alderman
Grateful to @derekgeographer.bsky.social for introducing me to @theconversation.com and providing me with valuable mentorship in writing articles. I’m five articles in and looking forward to writing many more in the coming years!
artsci.utk.edu/writing-for-...
artsci.utk.edu/writing-for-...
Writing for The Conversation Adds to Scholarship ROI - College of Arts and Sciences
Faculty from UT’s College of Arts and Sciences reach millions of people with their research by writing articles distributed through news organizations around the world. Faculty from the University of ...
artsci.utk.edu
January 22, 2026 at 8:32 PM
Grateful to @derekgeographer.bsky.social for introducing me to @theconversation.com and providing me with valuable mentorship in writing articles. I’m five articles in and looking forward to writing many more in the coming years!
artsci.utk.edu/writing-for-...
artsci.utk.edu/writing-for-...
Communities don’t choose names by accident. Honoring Lincoln is a way for places to weave themselves into a larger American story. Our place names reflect who we elevate, why, & to what political ends. Thanks @bridgemi.com for the interview bridgemi.com/quality-life... @utkgeography.bsky.social
Honestly, how many places are named after Abe Lincoln? In Michigan, a lot - Bridge Michigan
President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving a national holiday in 1863, launching a November tradition. It was also tradition to name municipalities, schools and roads after Lincoln.
bridgemi.com
December 2, 2025 at 3:26 AM
Communities don’t choose names by accident. Honoring Lincoln is a way for places to weave themselves into a larger American story. Our place names reflect who we elevate, why, & to what political ends. Thanks @bridgemi.com for the interview bridgemi.com/quality-life... @utkgeography.bsky.social
@nacis.bsky.social @livingmaps.bsky.social Black communities have long used mapping as a tool to challenge, survive, & transcend racism. The Living Black Atlas celebrates these traditions of protest, care & justice. Watch our new video @notebooklm.bsky.social to learn more tiny.utk.edu/LBAshortvideo
December 2, 2025 at 2:23 AM
@nacis.bsky.social @livingmaps.bsky.social Black communities have long used mapping as a tool to challenge, survive, & transcend racism. The Living Black Atlas celebrates these traditions of protest, care & justice. Watch our new video @notebooklm.bsky.social to learn more tiny.utk.edu/LBAshortvideo
Reposted by Derek H. Alderman
Great new piece with my main writing partner @derekgeographer.bsky.social www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcomm...
Remapping the Legacy of Enslavement: Street Names, Stealth Stickers, and the Living Black Atlas | Article | Media and Communication
Derek H. Alderman, Joshua Inwood
www.cogitatiopress.com
October 30, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Great new piece with my main writing partner @derekgeographer.bsky.social www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcomm...
Reposted by Derek H. Alderman
PhD Candidate Katrina Stack @katgeographic.bsky.social presented “Remapping Black Paris: Walking Tours as Embodied Archives and Cartographies” at the REP Conference last week in Albuquerque! Her collaborators are her advisor Derek Alderman @derekgeographer.bsky.social and Monique Y. Wells.
November 10, 2025 at 3:38 PM
PhD Candidate Katrina Stack @katgeographic.bsky.social presented “Remapping Black Paris: Walking Tours as Embodied Archives and Cartographies” at the REP Conference last week in Albuquerque! Her collaborators are her advisor Derek Alderman @derekgeographer.bsky.social and Monique Y. Wells.
Before the American Revolution, Native nations guarded their societies against tyranny
theconversation.com/before-the-a...
theconversation.com/before-the-a...
Before the American Revolution, Native nations guarded their societies against tyranny
Native American communities were elaborate consensus democracies, many of which had survived for generations because of careful attention to checking and balancing power.
theconversation.com
November 19, 2025 at 1:44 AM
Before the American Revolution, Native nations guarded their societies against tyranny
theconversation.com/before-the-a...
theconversation.com/before-the-a...
The Time That Martin Luther King, Jr. Was Almost Assassinated in St. Augustine, Florida. Dr. King said at the time: “We have worked in some difficult communities...but we have never worked in one as lawless as this.” www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/the-time-t...
The Time That Martin Luther King, Jr. Was Almost Assassinated in St. Augustine, Florida
A little known incident that could have changed history.
www.hamiltonnolan.com
October 21, 2025 at 4:43 PM
The Time That Martin Luther King, Jr. Was Almost Assassinated in St. Augustine, Florida. Dr. King said at the time: “We have worked in some difficult communities...but we have never worked in one as lawless as this.” www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/the-time-t...
Great piece on war-naming conventions & the power of language. Timely because of ongoing wars and the renaming of the Defense Dept. The way wars are referred to in the U.S. serves state interests & power rather than necessarily reflects the realities of conflicts. theconversation.com/when-it-come...
When it comes to wars − from the Middle East to Ukraine − what we call them matters
Convention suggests wars are named after the participants or the place it which fighting takes place. But who chooses − and why?
theconversation.com
September 5, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Great piece on war-naming conventions & the power of language. Timely because of ongoing wars and the renaming of the Defense Dept. The way wars are referred to in the U.S. serves state interests & power rather than necessarily reflects the realities of conflicts. theconversation.com/when-it-come...
Reposted by Derek H. Alderman
"Maps are a form of storytelling, as well as an info source...the lines, colours, symbols &size of regions depicted...communicate social meaning. They subtly but powerfully educate people...about who &what matters"
@jswab.bsky.social & @derekgeographer.bsky.social
theconversation.com/world-maps-g...
@jswab.bsky.social & @derekgeographer.bsky.social
theconversation.com/world-maps-g...
World maps get Africa’s size wrong: cartographers explain why fixing it matters
Maps help shape how we make sense of the world.
theconversation.com
August 28, 2025 at 6:39 PM
"Maps are a form of storytelling, as well as an info source...the lines, colours, symbols &size of regions depicted...communicate social meaning. They subtly but powerfully educate people...about who &what matters"
@jswab.bsky.social & @derekgeographer.bsky.social
theconversation.com/world-maps-g...
@jswab.bsky.social & @derekgeographer.bsky.social
theconversation.com/world-maps-g...
World maps get Africa’s size wrong: cartographers @utkgeography.bsky.social @geographers.bsky.social explain why fixing it matters. Grateful for the talent and collaboration of @jswab.bsky.social theconversation.com/world-maps-g...
World maps get Africa’s size wrong: cartographers explain why fixing it matters
Maps help shape how we make sense of the world.
theconversation.com
August 28, 2025 at 5:42 PM
World maps get Africa’s size wrong: cartographers @utkgeography.bsky.social @geographers.bsky.social explain why fixing it matters. Grateful for the talent and collaboration of @jswab.bsky.social theconversation.com/world-maps-g...
Escaped slaves on St. Croix hid their settlements so well, they still haven’t been found – archaeologists using new mapping technology are on the hunt
theconversation.com/escaped-slav...
theconversation.com/escaped-slav...
Escaped slaves on St. Croix hid their settlements so well, they still haven’t been found – archaeologists using new mapping technology are on the hunt
As many as 10% of enslaved people on St. Croix escaped. Where they went has remained a mystery, but scientists are using new mapping technology to find answers.
theconversation.com
August 27, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Escaped slaves on St. Croix hid their settlements so well, they still haven’t been found – archaeologists using new mapping technology are on the hunt
theconversation.com/escaped-slav...
theconversation.com/escaped-slav...
@geographers.bsky.social @knoxnews.bsky.social @nolanews.bsky.social @americangeo.bsky.social #HurricaneKatrina Tattoos a Form of Coping, Storytelling. Reposting @utknoxville.bsky.social news piece about our NOLA study from several years ago. Might have renewed interest on 20th anniversary of storm.
August 26, 2025 at 11:31 AM
@geographers.bsky.social @knoxnews.bsky.social @nolanews.bsky.social @americangeo.bsky.social #HurricaneKatrina Tattoos a Form of Coping, Storytelling. Reposting @utknoxville.bsky.social news piece about our NOLA study from several years ago. Might have renewed interest on 20th anniversary of storm.
Reposted by Derek H. Alderman
open.spotify.com/episode/02Tb... had a great time talking maps, living black atlas and got some Penn State love too @pennstategeography.bsky.social @derekgeographer.bsky.social @tynergeog.bsky.social @geographers.bsky.social
Lines in the Sand: How Maps Shape Power, Borders, and Belonging - Lab 107
Dope Labs · Episode
open.spotify.com
August 17, 2025 at 1:42 PM
open.spotify.com/episode/02Tb... had a great time talking maps, living black atlas and got some Penn State love too @pennstategeography.bsky.social @derekgeographer.bsky.social @tynergeog.bsky.social @geographers.bsky.social
Data centers consume massive amounts of water – companies rarely tell the public exactly how much
theconversation.com/data-centers...
theconversation.com/data-centers...
Data centers consume massive amounts of water – companies rarely tell the public exactly how much
In 2024, one data center in Iowa consumed 1 billion gallons of water, enough to supply all the state’s residences with water for five days.
theconversation.com
August 19, 2025 at 1:27 PM
Data centers consume massive amounts of water – companies rarely tell the public exactly how much
theconversation.com/data-centers...
theconversation.com/data-centers...
The dark history of forced starvation as a weapon of war against Indigenous peoples. Knoxville, TN's namesake, Henry Knox, burned down the Wea Tribe's corn fields, uprooted vegetable gardens, chopped down apple orchards, and destroyed their livestock. theconversation.com/the-dark-his...
The dark history of forced starvation as a weapon of war against Indigenous peoples
An Indigenous scholar explains how starvation was used to acquire the lands of Indigenous peoples. Her great-grandparents experienced ‘starvation winter’ on the Blackfeet reservation.
theconversation.com
August 13, 2025 at 12:12 AM
The dark history of forced starvation as a weapon of war against Indigenous peoples. Knoxville, TN's namesake, Henry Knox, burned down the Wea Tribe's corn fields, uprooted vegetable gardens, chopped down apple orchards, and destroyed their livestock. theconversation.com/the-dark-his...
Minneapolis officials consider removing name of segregationist Edmund Boulevard from street, and honoring a civil rights pioneer and state's first Black woman lawyer www.mprnews.org/story/2025/0...
Minneapolis officials consider renaming Edmund Boulevard for state's first Black woman lawyer
The 14-block stretch of road along the Mississippi River is currently named for Edmund Walton, a real estate developer who introduced racially restrictive covenants to Minnesota.
www.mprnews.org
August 6, 2025 at 1:21 AM
Minneapolis officials consider removing name of segregationist Edmund Boulevard from street, and honoring a civil rights pioneer and state's first Black woman lawyer www.mprnews.org/story/2025/0...
Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia gets a street named after him in San Francisco. The Place-Making Power of Fandom. Naming ceremony kicked off a weekend of festivities marking the Grateful Dead’s 60th anniversary www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia gets a street named after him in San Francisco
The dedication, held in the Excelsior, where Jerry Garcia grew up, kicked off a weekend of celebrations including Jerry Day and three Dead & Company concerts in Golden Gate Park.
www.sfchronicle.com
August 2, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia gets a street named after him in San Francisco. The Place-Making Power of Fandom. Naming ceremony kicked off a weekend of festivities marking the Grateful Dead’s 60th anniversary www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...
@americangeo.bsky.social @rgsibg.bsky.social @geographers.bsky.social Honored to be interviewed by @sbennettbrandt.bsky.social @afarmedia.bsky.social on consequential social & economic decisions and power struggles that have always undergirded map making & place naming www.afar.com/magazine/how...
Who Gets to Decide What Names Go on Digital Maps?
Recent headlines have drawn attention to naming conventions and mapping technology. But maps have always been political, experts say.
www.afar.com
June 27, 2025 at 12:04 AM
@americangeo.bsky.social @rgsibg.bsky.social @geographers.bsky.social Honored to be interviewed by @sbennettbrandt.bsky.social @afarmedia.bsky.social on consequential social & economic decisions and power struggles that have always undergirded map making & place naming www.afar.com/magazine/how...
Burden of self-censorship on political issues felt and seen at America's universities, where faculty do not just deal with individual anxiety of being attacked for expressing their views, but as employees of institutions that would prefer everyone remain quiet
theconversation.com/self-censors...
theconversation.com/self-censors...
Self-censorship and the ‘spiral of silence’: Why Americans are less likely to publicly voice their opinions on political issues
Nearly half of Americans say they feel less free to speak their minds.
theconversation.com
June 26, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Burden of self-censorship on political issues felt and seen at America's universities, where faculty do not just deal with individual anxiety of being attacked for expressing their views, but as employees of institutions that would prefer everyone remain quiet
theconversation.com/self-censors...
theconversation.com/self-censors...
Reposted by Derek H. Alderman
Jessie Simmons applied for a teaching job in a Detroit suburb in 1958 and didn't get it.
She was rejected 2 more times in 1959, while the district hired white teachers with less education – but she didn’t give up and got a job offer in ‘67.
A story worth knowing:
She was rejected 2 more times in 1959, while the district hired white teachers with less education – but she didn’t give up and got a job offer in ‘67.
A story worth knowing:
Jessie Simmons: How a schoolteacher became an unsung hero of the civil rights movement
When Jessie Simmons applied for a teaching job in 1958, her application went to a separate file for “Negro teachers” and got rejected. An education scholar recounts how Simmons fought back and won.
buff.ly
June 21, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Jessie Simmons applied for a teaching job in a Detroit suburb in 1958 and didn't get it.
She was rejected 2 more times in 1959, while the district hired white teachers with less education – but she didn’t give up and got a job offer in ‘67.
A story worth knowing:
She was rejected 2 more times in 1959, while the district hired white teachers with less education – but she didn’t give up and got a job offer in ‘67.
A story worth knowing:
The term ‘lone gunman’ ignores the structures that enable violence. "Politicians are frequently reluctant to acknowledge the ideological underpinnings of such violence, particularly when those ideologies overlap with their own rhetoric or voter base." theconversation.com/the-term-lon...
The term ‘lone gunman’ ignores the structures that enable violence
A scholar of extremism writes that the use of the term often obscures deeper societal issues such as rising political violence and is dangerously simplistic.
theconversation.com
June 21, 2025 at 3:11 PM
The term ‘lone gunman’ ignores the structures that enable violence. "Politicians are frequently reluctant to acknowledge the ideological underpinnings of such violence, particularly when those ideologies overlap with their own rhetoric or voter base." theconversation.com/the-term-lon...
@npr.org @apnews.com @cnn.com With Trump vowing to restore Confederate names to all Army bases, place names back in spotlight. Our latest piece @us.theconversation.com unpacks how renaming not just symbolic—it’s a power move w/ educational & ethical consequences. theconversation.com/from-greenla...
From Greenland to Fort Bragg, America is caught in a name game where place names become political tools
Rewriting the map can influence the public psyche in ways subtle and not so subtle.
theconversation.com
June 11, 2025 at 11:02 AM
@npr.org @apnews.com @cnn.com With Trump vowing to restore Confederate names to all Army bases, place names back in spotlight. Our latest piece @us.theconversation.com unpacks how renaming not just symbolic—it’s a power move w/ educational & ethical consequences. theconversation.com/from-greenla...