H.J. de Blij
Whatever Happened to Geographic Literacy?

Underwritten by: J.C. Huizenga

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International competitions, tests and polls prove that Americans are among the most geographically illiterate citizens in the world. Indeed, the U.S.A. is the only country of consequence in which it is possible to go from kindergarten through graduate school without ever taking a course in geography. As a result, political leaders have embarrassed themselves and their country in foreign settings; members of the government have misled the country in disastrous foreign-policy campaigns. Additionally, an inadequately educated public is in no position to make its views count. H.J. deBlij, a world-renowned geography scholar and former geography editor for Good Morning America, will address why geographic illiteracy can have catastrophic consequences and what could and should be done about it.