The publication and consumption of geography textbooks
Tim Hall (University of Winchester) and James D Sidaway (National University of Singapore)
Textbooks, it has been argued, shape disciplines. They certainly reflect disciplinary mores and fashions. Yet despite their importance to the discipline there has been limited discussion of the production and consumption of geography textbooks. This panel will bring together authors, editors and a publisher. They will reflect on the publication and consumption of textbooks in geography amidst changing pedagogic, economic and socio-technical landscapes. In so doing, the panel will build on earlier published debates, considering the future of research monographs in geography (Ward et al, 2006), the political economy of publishing (Barnett & Low, 1996), the influence of textbooks (Hubbard & Kitchen, 2007; Johnston, 2006) and canonicity (see the theme issue of the Journal of Historical Geography Volume 49, 2015 on ‘the geographical canon’). Although mindful of shifting mores and modes in publishing and higher education, we also want to bring an historical perspective (as in Keighren, 2010) to bear on the discussions.
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