News Archive

The following is from an article posted on the spatial@ucsb web site regarding a poster exhibit and plenary session held June 2, 2015: There is a spatial component at the core of all search. On one hand, search technologies rely on a spatial metaphor: We talk about going to our favorite websites, searching for fragments in an overwhelmingly large space of documents, images, and videos. On the other hand, geographic space is essential...

Residents of Beirut, Lebanon’s capital city, often give directions by using landmarks rather than addresses, writes Jenny Gustafsson. This can be confusing for newcomers, especially because some of the landmarks used for navigation no longer exist. The following article was posted at theguardian.com on June 2, 2015 with the title “Mapping, Beirut-style: how to navigate a city without using any street names”:...

Assistant Professor of Anthropology Jeffrey Hoelle joined the Department of Geography as an Affiliate Professor in April 2015. His research interests include human-environment interactions, space and place, conservation and development, Latin America, and cross-cultural cowboys and cattle cultures. Regarding the latter, Jeff has just had a book he wrote on the subject, “Rainforest Cowboys: The Rise of Ranching and Cattle Culture...