Pauline Couper
@paulinecouper.bsky.social
Geographer. Geographical thought & practice, philosophy of geog, epistemic pluralism, geomorphology, higher ed.
Assoc Prof & Head of dept, York St John Uni, UK. FRGS, PFHEA, CGeog. #academicsky #geosky
Assoc Prof & Head of dept, York St John Uni, UK. FRGS, PFHEA, CGeog. #academicsky #geosky
Published today! Understanding Cultural Landscapes, by Rachel Hunt & Ben Garlick.
Priveleged to have had a preview of this, and very pleased to recommend it!
#geography #Landscape #CulturalGeography
www.routledge.com/Understandin...
Priveleged to have had a preview of this, and very pleased to recommend it!
#geography #Landscape #CulturalGeography
www.routledge.com/Understandin...
Understanding Cultural Landscapes
Understanding Cultural Landscapes provides an introduction to the range of approaches characterising the study of landscape and culture. This textbook discusses the origins, underpinnings, and practic...
www.routledge.com
November 27, 2025 at 11:45 AM
Published today! Understanding Cultural Landscapes, by Rachel Hunt & Ben Garlick.
Priveleged to have had a preview of this, and very pleased to recommend it!
#geography #Landscape #CulturalGeography
www.routledge.com/Understandin...
Priveleged to have had a preview of this, and very pleased to recommend it!
#geography #Landscape #CulturalGeography
www.routledge.com/Understandin...
"... at its best, geography is one of the most radical, essential and interdisciplinary ways of understanding our world." 👍
H/t: @profkdlilley.bsky.social
H/t: @profkdlilley.bsky.social
Demian Hommel, associate professor at Oregon State University, shares how the discipline is critical to create students who think spatially and act ethically: “Geography belongs at the center of that transformation, no longer a legacy subject, but a frontline framework.”
November 26, 2025 at 6:26 AM
Reposted by Pauline Couper
Used to the 'places' in one-place studies staying put, this place study of the very mobile Mermaid, specifically her 1863/4 England to New Zealand voyage, is as unusual as it is excellent. Applause researcher Maggie Gaffney, whose own relatives were passengers on the Mermaid. mermaid1864.org/about/
November 22, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Used to the 'places' in one-place studies staying put, this place study of the very mobile Mermaid, specifically her 1863/4 England to New Zealand voyage, is as unusual as it is excellent. Applause researcher Maggie Gaffney, whose own relatives were passengers on the Mermaid. mermaid1864.org/about/
If anyone is feeling generous enough to spend a few seconds on a questionnaire on perceptions of English & Scottish folk music, here's a link. You don't need knowledge of either. My nephew will be grateful. 🙏🏻
#folkmusic #identity
forms.office.com/e/YY2vieygJd
#folkmusic #identity
forms.office.com/e/YY2vieygJd
Microsoft Forms
forms.office.com
November 22, 2025 at 9:08 PM
If anyone is feeling generous enough to spend a few seconds on a questionnaire on perceptions of English & Scottish folk music, here's a link. You don't need knowledge of either. My nephew will be grateful. 🙏🏻
#folkmusic #identity
forms.office.com/e/YY2vieygJd
#folkmusic #identity
forms.office.com/e/YY2vieygJd
Extraordinary account of the complexities of identity and data, two very different forms of knowing.
“The arguments to exercise caution with DNA are valid, if a bit doom-laden. But there is another perspective that we need to consider, and that’s the power of DNA to reconnect those Māori who don’t know their whakapapa.” — Atakohu Middleton, who found her sister through DNA testing.
Tōku tuakana hou: My new sister | E-Tangata
“The arguments to exercise caution with DNA are valid, if a bit doom-laden. But there is another perspective that we need to consider, and that’s the power of DNA to reconnect those Māori who don’t kn...
e-tangata.co.nz
November 22, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Extraordinary account of the complexities of identity and data, two very different forms of knowing.
Seriously though, when did April Fools' day move to November?
#HigherEd #Academicsky
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
#HigherEd #Academicsky
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
‘We could have asked ChatGPT’: students fight back over course taught by AI
Staffordshire students say signs material was AI-generated included suspicious file names and rogue voiceover accent
www.theguardian.com
November 20, 2025 at 8:57 PM
Seriously though, when did April Fools' day move to November?
#HigherEd #Academicsky
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
#HigherEd #Academicsky
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Mighty fine weather for graduation week.
November 20, 2025 at 8:19 AM
Mighty fine weather for graduation week.
Top advice here. Over 20 years in, I feel like I've recently started to figure this out for myself.
When I was reflecting on my career for my retirement conference I realised it was built on three things I was advised no respectable philosophy academic should do
1 Write texts for students
2 Write collaborative public policy reports
3 Co-author philosophical research
My advice. Do your thing.
1 Write texts for students
2 Write collaborative public policy reports
3 Co-author philosophical research
My advice. Do your thing.
November 17, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Top advice here. Over 20 years in, I feel like I've recently started to figure this out for myself.
"To be of a place is to know the stories of the land. Whether they’re about heroes traversing imaginary worlds, or the complexities of knowledge tied with the shifts of wind or cycles of the fish..." Jamie Tahana on climate change, global responsibilities & Indigenous sovereignty.
“Not caring anymore doesn’t mean the problem is no longer there. Especially in the Pacific, where climate change isn’t a distant threat but a present-day catastrophe already uprooting communities, unravelling the fine tapestry of culture, and upending entire ways of life.” — Jamie Tahana.
Giving up isn't an option for the Pacific | E-Tangata
“Not caring anymore doesn’t mean the problem is no longer there. Especially in the Pacific, where climate change isn’t a distant threat but a present-day catastrophe already uprooting communities, unr...
e-tangata.co.nz
November 9, 2025 at 3:59 PM
"To be of a place is to know the stories of the land. Whether they’re about heroes traversing imaginary worlds, or the complexities of knowledge tied with the shifts of wind or cycles of the fish..." Jamie Tahana on climate change, global responsibilities & Indigenous sovereignty.
Reposted by Pauline Couper
We wrote this paper a while ago and since then OpenAI has claimed plans to be "core infrastructure" of education, Google has rammed Gemini into schools via its education platforms, and AWS showed it underpins most edtech platforms... 1/
New paper just out on how changing sociotechnical systems of knowledge production and access - platforms, the cloud, AI - pose profound challenges to educational practice and research doi.org/10.1080/0305...
Knowledge infrastructure crisis: digital democratic deficits and alternative designs for education
The production and circulation of knowledge in education increasingly depends on large-scale digital infrastructures. In this article we provide a critical review of the transformation of the conte...
doi.org
November 7, 2025 at 9:31 PM
We wrote this paper a while ago and since then OpenAI has claimed plans to be "core infrastructure" of education, Google has rammed Gemini into schools via its education platforms, and AWS showed it underpins most edtech platforms... 1/
Reposted by Pauline Couper
1.This is not the only known example we know of ChatGPT cheering on a vulnerable young person to die by suicide, this time it is a recent Texas A&M grad
2. Every single university that has invited OpenAI into our midst should be asked to account for their choices.
www.cnn.com/2025/11/06/u...
2. Every single university that has invited OpenAI into our midst should be asked to account for their choices.
www.cnn.com/2025/11/06/u...
November 7, 2025 at 1:50 AM
1.This is not the only known example we know of ChatGPT cheering on a vulnerable young person to die by suicide, this time it is a recent Texas A&M grad
2. Every single university that has invited OpenAI into our midst should be asked to account for their choices.
www.cnn.com/2025/11/06/u...
2. Every single university that has invited OpenAI into our midst should be asked to account for their choices.
www.cnn.com/2025/11/06/u...
Save Geography at the University of Leicester.
The University of Leicester is proposing to dissolve Geography into a School of Chemical, Earth & Environmental Science. All research-active human geographers are at threat of redundancy. Add your voice to keep #Geography whole!
c.org/sbYBqcwrhC
The University of Leicester is proposing to dissolve Geography into a School of Chemical, Earth & Environmental Science. All research-active human geographers are at threat of redundancy. Add your voice to keep #Geography whole!
c.org/sbYBqcwrhC
Sign the Petition
Save Geography at the University of Leicester
c.org
November 7, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Save Geography at the University of Leicester.
The University of Leicester is proposing to dissolve Geography into a School of Chemical, Earth & Environmental Science. All research-active human geographers are at threat of redundancy. Add your voice to keep #Geography whole!
c.org/sbYBqcwrhC
The University of Leicester is proposing to dissolve Geography into a School of Chemical, Earth & Environmental Science. All research-active human geographers are at threat of redundancy. Add your voice to keep #Geography whole!
c.org/sbYBqcwrhC
Reposted by Pauline Couper
Really great trip yesterday telling the story of the management on the River Hull, from top to bottom. Amazing remeandering work on the beautiful and rare chalk rivers at Driffield Trout Stream!
Excellent #fieldtrip yesterday looking at #RiverManagement across the Hull catchment, from headwaters to the Humber estuary. Organised & led by @geoskinner.games, with insights from Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, Natural England & Hull City Council. And the weather stayed dry for us!
November 6, 2025 at 6:32 AM
Really great trip yesterday telling the story of the management on the River Hull, from top to bottom. Amazing remeandering work on the beautiful and rare chalk rivers at Driffield Trout Stream!
Excellent #fieldtrip yesterday looking at #RiverManagement across the Hull catchment, from headwaters to the Humber estuary. Organised & led by @geoskinner.games, with insights from Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, Natural England & Hull City Council. And the weather stayed dry for us!
November 6, 2025 at 6:27 AM
Excellent #fieldtrip yesterday looking at #RiverManagement across the Hull catchment, from headwaters to the Humber estuary. Organised & led by @geoskinner.games, with insights from Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, Natural England & Hull City Council. And the weather stayed dry for us!
Reposted by Pauline Couper
Often overlooked, small water bodies - streams, damp ditches, small bogs, ponds - support more rare species compared with larger habitats while high-quality ponds support about 2/3 of all freshwater plant + animal species in a landscape.
🧵 1/4
freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/news/start-w...
🧵 1/4
freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/news/start-w...
November 2, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Often overlooked, small water bodies - streams, damp ditches, small bogs, ponds - support more rare species compared with larger habitats while high-quality ponds support about 2/3 of all freshwater plant + animal species in a landscape.
🧵 1/4
freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/news/start-w...
🧵 1/4
freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/news/start-w...
Reposted by Pauline Couper
Geography in the service of the imperial state:
Putin speaking at the Russian Geographical Society emphasising the political utility of mapping and geographical knowledge
Putin speaking at the Russian Geographical Society emphasising the political utility of mapping and geographical knowledge
November 2, 2025 at 6:49 PM
Geography in the service of the imperial state:
Putin speaking at the Russian Geographical Society emphasising the political utility of mapping and geographical knowledge
Putin speaking at the Russian Geographical Society emphasising the political utility of mapping and geographical knowledge
On language, AI and the loss of embodied knowledge and intuition.
"...we are now feeding AI outputs back into training data. The result is linguistic patterns amplifying themselves, detached from embodied experience."
"...we are now feeding AI outputs back into training data. The result is linguistic patterns amplifying themselves, detached from embodied experience."
"Language trapped us tens of thousands of years ago, fundamentally altering our minds. Now, artificial intelligence not only closes the cage but potentially makes escape impossible."
#AI #Golding
@timhowles.bsky.social
www.linkedin.com/pulse/has-la...
#AI #Golding
@timhowles.bsky.social
www.linkedin.com/pulse/has-la...
Has language trapped humanity?
Language trapped us tens of thousands of years ago, fundamentally altering our minds. Now, artificial intelligence not only closes the cage but potentially makes escape impossible.
www.linkedin.com
November 1, 2025 at 9:06 PM
On language, AI and the loss of embodied knowledge and intuition.
"...we are now feeding AI outputs back into training data. The result is linguistic patterns amplifying themselves, detached from embodied experience."
"...we are now feeding AI outputs back into training data. The result is linguistic patterns amplifying themselves, detached from embodied experience."
Reposted by Pauline Couper
“Air pollution fell substantially as Paris restricted car traffic and made way for parks, people-streets and bike-lanes.”
Better for the climate, better for health, better for livability and quality of life.
Common sense.
Such a no-brainer, it’s remarkable that more cities HAVEN’T done the same.
Better for the climate, better for health, better for livability and quality of life.
Common sense.
Such a no-brainer, it’s remarkable that more cities HAVEN’T done the same.
Paris said au revoir to cars. Air pollution maps reveal a dramatic change.
Air pollution fell substantially as the city restricted car traffic and made way for parks and bike lanes.
www.washingtonpost.com
October 28, 2025 at 2:31 AM
“Air pollution fell substantially as Paris restricted car traffic and made way for parks, people-streets and bike-lanes.”
Better for the climate, better for health, better for livability and quality of life.
Common sense.
Such a no-brainer, it’s remarkable that more cities HAVEN’T done the same.
Better for the climate, better for health, better for livability and quality of life.
Common sense.
Such a no-brainer, it’s remarkable that more cities HAVEN’T done the same.
Reposted by Pauline Couper
9-year-old's letter to BBC Children's programme: Blue Peter (1973)
Hollander is now Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research & Impact and Professor of StemCell Biology at Liverpool University
#highered #science #medicine #surgery #edchat #education
www.liverpool.ac.uk/researcher/w...
Hollander is now Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research & Impact and Professor of StemCell Biology at Liverpool University
#highered #science #medicine #surgery #edchat #education
www.liverpool.ac.uk/researcher/w...
![Dear Val, John, Peter and Lesslie
This may seem very strange, but I think I no how to make people or animals alive. Why Im teling you is because I cant get the things I need.
A list of what I need.
1. Diagram of how evreything works (inside youre body)
2. Model of a heart split in half, (both halvs)
3. The sort of sering [syringe] they yous for cleaning ears (Tsering must be very very clean)
4. Tools for cutting people open
5. Tools for stiches
6. Fiberglass box, 8 foot tall, 3 foot width.
7. Picture of a man showing all the arteries.
Sorry but in number 6 in the list the box needs lid. If you do get them on 1st March I can pay £10, £11, £12, £13 or £14. Send your answer to me,
Love from Anthony, London, NW11](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:6xzczlgdl4dklm6hw2xxlgyh/bafkreigu7p4qukzgiqp3bzzmqlwuyuxb2wszdyll53oywfilh6vcsl7awe@jpeg)
October 27, 2025 at 9:44 AM
9-year-old's letter to BBC Children's programme: Blue Peter (1973)
Hollander is now Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research & Impact and Professor of StemCell Biology at Liverpool University
#highered #science #medicine #surgery #edchat #education
www.liverpool.ac.uk/researcher/w...
Hollander is now Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research & Impact and Professor of StemCell Biology at Liverpool University
#highered #science #medicine #surgery #edchat #education
www.liverpool.ac.uk/researcher/w...
Education & politics, in Aotearoa & internationally.
"...if you control the curriculum, you can erase histories and languages. Education is not and has never been a neutral space, it either strengthens the status quo or challenges it” (Tina Ngata).
"...if you control the curriculum, you can erase histories and languages. Education is not and has never been a neutral space, it either strengthens the status quo or challenges it” (Tina Ngata).
“If a ‘knowledge-rich’ curriculum isn’t grounded in te ao Māori and the very people and things that make Aotearoa unique, who is determining the knowledge and where does it come from?” — Jessie Moss on the ideology behind education reform.
The imported ideology behind education reform | E-Tangata
e-tangata.co.nz
October 26, 2025 at 11:24 AM
Education & politics, in Aotearoa & internationally.
"...if you control the curriculum, you can erase histories and languages. Education is not and has never been a neutral space, it either strengthens the status quo or challenges it” (Tina Ngata).
"...if you control the curriculum, you can erase histories and languages. Education is not and has never been a neutral space, it either strengthens the status quo or challenges it” (Tina Ngata).
Reposted by Pauline Couper
I wrote about the stupid white paper.
In summary, with these people in the driver's seat and apparently unbothered by consequences, we're so cooked.
In summary, with these people in the driver's seat and apparently unbothered by consequences, we're so cooked.
Somewhere in the Department for Education, a phone is ringing
On October 20th at a bit after 5pm, the UK government introduced its Education and Skills white paper to Parliament, to absolutely no…
hitchcockian.medium.com
October 22, 2025 at 8:38 AM
I wrote about the stupid white paper.
In summary, with these people in the driver's seat and apparently unbothered by consequences, we're so cooked.
In summary, with these people in the driver's seat and apparently unbothered by consequences, we're so cooked.
Reposted by Pauline Couper
Good to see this from my former Geography @worcesteruni.bsky.social colleagues Albert Mvula, Alan Dixon & Ian Maddock
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Assessing on-farm impacts of the deep bed farming system on soil and water conservation, and maize yields among smallholder farmers in Malawi
Malawi's vulnerability to climate change and declining soil fertility underscores the need for climate-smart, soil-conserving agricultural practices. In Malawi, the deep bed farming (DBF) system of...
www.tandfonline.com
October 22, 2025 at 9:51 AM
Good to see this from my former Geography @worcesteruni.bsky.social colleagues Albert Mvula, Alan Dixon & Ian Maddock
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
JOB: Lecturer in #geography, expertise in #geomorphology & #hydrology. Full-time, permanent. Deadline 04 Nov.
Come and join a small, highly collegial team!
#academicsky #HEjobs #UKHE
jobs.yorksj.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx...
Come and join a small, highly collegial team!
#academicsky #HEjobs #UKHE
jobs.yorksj.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx...
Job Opportunity at York St John University: Lecturer in Geography
Full time permanent Location: York Salary: £39,906 to £48,822 per annum Introduction to YSJ universityYork St John is an ambitious, modern university at the heart of historic York and there has never been a more exciting...
jobs.yorksj.ac.uk
October 18, 2025 at 8:20 AM
JOB: Lecturer in #geography, expertise in #geomorphology & #hydrology. Full-time, permanent. Deadline 04 Nov.
Come and join a small, highly collegial team!
#academicsky #HEjobs #UKHE
jobs.yorksj.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx...
Come and join a small, highly collegial team!
#academicsky #HEjobs #UKHE
jobs.yorksj.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx...
Reposted by Pauline Couper
Many thanks to @richardfisher.bsky.social for this lovely article on my #urbangeology rambles! www.bbc.co.uk/future/artic...
'Urban geology': How to find fossils (and other discoveries) in your city's buildings
If you look closer at the building stones, tiles and pavements of the big city, you can find a hidden world of geology and history, from fascinating fossils to unusual rocks.
www.bbc.co.uk
October 18, 2025 at 7:57 AM
Many thanks to @richardfisher.bsky.social for this lovely article on my #urbangeology rambles! www.bbc.co.uk/future/artic...
Oh, such a fabulous piece: on education, the Proclaimers, and the power and limitations of maps...
"I think it is sad that you would come to college to be told where to go. I think it is sad that you would go to college and follow a map written by someone else."
#academicsky
"I think it is sad that you would come to college to be told where to go. I think it is sad that you would go to college and follow a map written by someone else."
#academicsky
October 17, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Oh, such a fabulous piece: on education, the Proclaimers, and the power and limitations of maps...
"I think it is sad that you would come to college to be told where to go. I think it is sad that you would go to college and follow a map written by someone else."
#academicsky
"I think it is sad that you would come to college to be told where to go. I think it is sad that you would go to college and follow a map written by someone else."
#academicsky