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Human geography can be taught by focusing on popular culture contexts with which undergraduate students may already be familiar such as rock music. The Geography of the Beatles introduced undergraduate students to concepts of "new" cultural geography such as space, place, representation, geopolitics, social space, and tourism-pilgrimage as well as to more traditional concepts such as diffusion. A wide range of geographical issues were illustrated by a broad-based spatial examination of the music and lives of the Beatles. Activities included a geographical history of the Beatles, reading street maps of the Beatles' hometown of Liverpool, England, song and film analysis, and a song-writing exercise.

John Lennon is worthy of study for geographers and other social scientists for reasons such as opportunity to better understand the linkages between place and celebrity, and investigate issues including the construction of memory through the ascription of meanings to places. He continues to provide a context within which the dynamic geographics of place-making through the discursive readings of cultural texts can be better understood.

ABSTRACT. Forty years after their rise to international fame, the Beatles continue to be a presence on the cultural landscape. More than any other place, Liverpool remains intrinsically linked with [...]

Popular Culture in the Age of White Flight: Fear and Fantasy in Suburban Los Angeles. By Eric Avila. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004. Preface, acknowledgments, notes, bibliography, and index. [...]

The Right to the City: Social Justice and the Fight for Public Space. By Don Mitchell. New York: Guilford Press, 2003. References and index, viii+270pp. $23.00 paper. ISBN 1-57230-847-8. Don [...]

Geographers and other social scientists have largely neglected Malcolm X as a critical theorist. Unlike the attention accorded to Franz Fanon, the writings and speeches of Malcolm X have remained unexplored for their potential contribution to political geographic thought. As a corrective, in this paper we situate Malcolm X within the rubric of critical geopolitics and postcolonial theory. We contend that Malcolm X, during the last year of his life, was formulating a geopolitics of oppression. We further assert that the geopolitics of Malcolm X were decidedly critical and anti-colonial, and that his discourse foreshadows elements of contemporary social theory. Specifically, Malcolm X instructed his audiences to educate themselves about the relationships between imperial power and he addressed the politics of representation by representing the issues of American racial oppression as one of global oppression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dwarfs, midgets, even freaks, are among the terms that have been used to label little people. Feminist theorists have argued that discursive identities of women prevent any meaningful essentialised analysis of their experiences. Similarly, disability researchers have argued against generalising the experiences of disabled individuals. This paper explores the intersection of gender and dwarfism through the narratives of four women who are little people. Findings suggest that the ways women, who are little people, negotiate public spaces are affected by discourses of gender, disability and common conceptions of what is physically normal. Furthermore, these discourses have material implications in the everyday lives of these women. A brief historical overview of dwarfism is followed by narratives that describe experiences in public spaces, perceptions of height related to age and capability, gendered spaces and sexual stereotypes, uncomfortable spaces, violations of personal space and transportation. This paper provides a partial perspective on how discourses of dwarfism are manifest in social spaces and the built environment. Despite these significant commonalities that little people shared with other disabled people, there are socio-spatial experiences that appear to be unique to people with dwarfism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]