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Derek H. Alderman @derekgeographer.bsky.social · Sep 5

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

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Reposted by Derek H. Alderman

David Storey @davidstoreygeog.bsky.social · Aug 28

"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...

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

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Derek H. Alderman @derekgeographer.bsky.social · Aug 28

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

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Derek H. Alderman @derekgeographer.bsky.social · Aug 27

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...

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

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Derek H. Alderman @derekgeographer.bsky.social · Aug 26

@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.

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Reposted by Derek H. Alderman

Josh Inwood @geogjosh.bsky.social · Aug 17

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

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Derek H. Alderman @derekgeographer.bsky.social · Aug 19

Data centers consume massive amounts of water – companies rarely tell the public exactly how much
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

Derek H. Alderman @derekgeographer.bsky.social · Aug 13

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

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Derek H. Alderman @derekgeographer.bsky.social · Aug 6

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

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Derek H. Alderman @derekgeographer.bsky.social · Aug 2

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

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Derek H. Alderman @derekgeographer.bsky.social · Jun 27

@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

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Derek H. Alderman @derekgeographer.bsky.social · Jun 26

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...

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

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Reposted by Derek H. Alderman

The Conversation U.S. @us.theconversation.com · Jun 21

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:

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

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Derek H. Alderman @derekgeographer.bsky.social · Jun 21

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

Derek H. Alderman @derekgeographer.bsky.social · Jun 11

@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

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Derek H. Alderman @derekgeographer.bsky.social · Jun 9

"Current proponents of “anti-woke” agenda at both the federal and state levels focused on reshaping educational curricula in a way that will make it inconceivable for future generations to question their historical claims." How George Orwell helps explain Trump theconversation.com/who-controls...

‘Who controls the present controls the past’: What Orwell’s ‘1984’ explains about the twisting of history to control the public

Donald Trump aims to rewrite America’s official history. George Orwell − who wrote, ‘Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.“ − would recognize that impu...

theconversation.com

Derek H. Alderman @derekgeographer.bsky.social · Jun 6

Of possible interest to @tourismgeographies.bsky.social From hotspot to flashpoint: how tourism pushed Barcelona to breaking point, and how social movements are fighting back theconversation.com/from-hotspot...

From hotspot to flashpoint: how tourism pushed Barcelona to breaking point, and how social movements are fighting back

Mass tourism reshapes urban spaces, often at the expense of local communities.

theconversation.com

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Derek H. Alderman @derekgeographer.bsky.social · Jun 4

Reducing American antisemitism requires more than condemning opposition to Israel and targeting elite universities. theconversation.com/reducing-ame...

Reducing American antisemitism requires more than condemning opposition to Israel and targeting elite universities

The Trump administration’s crusade against antisemitism looks to be mainly about crippling elite universities and blurring the lines between pro-Palestinian activism and antisemitism.

theconversation.com

Derek H. Alderman @derekgeographer.bsky.social · May 8

Now Trump trying to rename the Persian Gulf the 'Arabian Gulf.' Iranian-Canadian human rights activist Nazanin Afshin-Jam MacKay says. "He can spin words and rename bodies of water for political and economic gain but he can’t rewrite 2,500 years of history." www.rawstory.com/trump-arabia...

'Bring the wrath': Trump triggers furious reaction with 'Arabian Gulf' plan

President Donald Trump reportedly plans to announce during his upcoming trip to the Middle East that the United States will no longer recognize the Persian Gulf, instead renaming it as the "Arabian Gu...

www.rawstory.com

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Derek H. Alderman @derekgeographer.bsky.social · Apr 28

Gratitude comes with benefits − a social psychologist explains how to practice it when times are stressful. As Senate President @utknoxville.bsky.social, I begin every meeting with gratitude for others to help set a tone for sometimes tough discussions to come. theconversation.com/gratitude-co....

Gratitude comes with benefits − a social psychologist explains how to practice it when times are stressful

Some people are more inclined toward gratitude than others, but there are specific ways that everyone can cultivate more of it.

theconversation.com

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Derek H. Alderman @derekgeographer.bsky.social · Apr 26

New report from @splcenter.org
shows removing Confederate memorials has slowed. We are also seeing "re-Confederatization" of the contemporary landscape with rollback of commemorative reform against white supremacy--from Sylva NC to Fort Benning GA to Shenandoah County VA wabe.org/new-report-s...

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Derek H. Alderman @derekgeographer.bsky.social · Apr 26

Odessa, Texas approves MLK Jr. Street renaming in historic community. Past efforts to rename larger portion of street faced opposition. Resident who lived under Jim Crow says the street will be a reminder of how far the community has come and how much work remains.
www.newswest9.com/article/news...

Odessa City Council approves MLK Jr. Street renaming in historic community

A major Odessa street will soon carry the name of one of America’s most iconic civil rights leaders.

www.newswest9.com

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Derek H. Alderman @derekgeographer.bsky.social · Apr 22

Post-truth politics didn't start w/ Trump 1.0 or 2.0. My paper w/ talented @geogjosh.bsky.social traces how civil rights groups fought racist storytelling long before today's misinformation crisis. Their tactics matter more than ever in an era of weaponized lies www.researchgate.net/publication/...

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Derek H. Alderman @derekgeographer.bsky.social · Apr 14

Harvard will NOT comply w/ Trump's demands for reduced power of students & faculty members over university’s affairs. NO to immediate federal reporting of international students w/ conduct violations. And NO to bringing in outside party to ensure viewpoint diversity. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/14/u...

Harvard Will Not Comply With a List of Trump Administration Demands

Federal officials said Harvard must enact “merit-based reform” in hiring and admissions and report international students who broke rules, among other steps. Harvard called the demands unlawful.

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Derek H. Alderman

UTK Geography & Sustainability @utkgeography.bsky.social · Apr 8

Outstanding graduate research mentor: LaToya Eaves @spacedemands.bsky.social, Kelsey Ellis

Outstanding graduate student support: Alex Logan, Derek Alderman @derekgeographer.bsky.social

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