The geography you don't know

Call it a hunch, but I bet most Penn students can easily locate Afghanistan and Iraq on a map. I say "most" because everyone can find some stereotypical group on campus to call stupid. Rather than make a silly blanket statement about the intelligence of Whartonites, athletes, frat boys or Philomatheans, I leave you to make your own, specialized, insult.

Now that that's out of the way, back to maps and locating things. While it's good that we can find Iraq and Afghanistan since the vast majority of young Americans cannot, according to a 2002 National Geographic survey, that's still not enough. What I worry about is Penn students and pretty much everything else outside of Western Europe. I know the coup in Kyrgyzstan surprised all of us. Not so much the coup part, but the existence of the entire country.

From the day of convocation onward it is instilled in our heads how we are the future leaders of the world. If we are to meet these expectations, shouldn't we be relatively familiar with this world? While someplace tiny like Kyrgyzstan is forgivable, other countries are definitely not. Earlier this semester, a TA gave one of my classes a pop map quiz asking students to name and identify 72 countries from Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Southeast Asia. In a recitation with students from across the University, the country and the world, the average was a disappointing 50 percent.

Perhaps this is a problem of basic geographic knowledge that should have been identified and corrected at the high school level. Even so, the University probably should expect something a little more from its graduating students than just the ability to recognize and name countries. That's why it would be a good idea for Penn to start offering a course in practical geography. It could be similar to a class offered at Georgetown called "Map of the Modern World."

Created and taught by professor Charles Pirtle, the course extends well beyond simple geography and is a graduation requirement for all School of Foreign Service students. Just to pass the final exam, students have to know the location of all independent countries, colonies, dependencies and territories as well as identify their "mother countries." In addition, they have to know the states of origin of all new countries from 1900 on, plus the location and background of each territorial, boundary and ethnonationalist dispute or conflict, as well as civil wars discussed in lecture.

Sure some of this information, like the many different islands and countries that have been mined out of existence, may only ever be useful on Jeopardy. The rest of it, however, is what any international relations, political science or international business major -- or, say, educated person -- should know.

Last spring, Georgetown sophomore Audrey Haydon took "Map of the Modern World" to fulfill her graduation requirement. She has found that the class has helped her, not only in her studies at the School of Foreign Services but in everyday life. One of the benefits she listed was being able to turn on the TV and "see any news story from around the globe and immediately place that story in a geographic context." A pretty nifty trick if you can manage it, I think.

To butcher a phrase, of whom much is expected much must be given. If the University expects us to lead the world, a course like "Map of the Modern World," whether for credit or as a preceptorial, could be really useful. The benefits of such a class for an educated adult working on the international level are infinite. I mean really, you just never know when, during an interview as a presidential candidate, a reporter will ask you to name the leader of Pakistan or something. Just saying.

I'll leave you with some homework to complete over the weekend. Readers, your assignment is to locate and read up on the following countries and, if you like, write a short summary of each country's recent history (My apologies to students who are from any of these countries, especially the last one. Admittedly, Penn students should know of these countries already):

1. Bhutan

2. Angola

3. Uruguay

4. Cambodia

5. Nauru

Not to worry, Whartonites, athletes, frat boys and Philomatheans, the assignment will be graded on a curve.

Amara Rockar is a sophomore political science major from St. Louis. Out of Range appears on Fridays.

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