Q & A with Andy Knox

GI: Paper or digital map?

AK: Several of the most enjoyable conversations that I can remember started off by looking at a map with someone. Paper maps all the way! A beautiful paper map is a contagious conversation starter. I wonder what would be the effect on the general vibe of places if more outdoor maps existed in public spaces? More interactions with strangers? More lingering in places that then built more connections?

 

GI: GPS or mental map?

AK: This depends on the moment. Would I trade in all of my mental maps for a shiny new GPS that would store them for me and keep them organized, retrievable and free from ever getting lost in the shuffle of life? Nope. Never. But without a GPS I never would have found Rabbit Hash, Kentucky.

 

GI: Rural, suburban or urban?

AK: Rural for living. Urban for visiting. However should my next move plop me in a city, flip those two around. Suburban is good for, I don’t know, stopping to get an In-N-Out Burger chocolate milkshake on the way through. In all seriousness, having grown up in the suburbs of New York State, I am not all that excited about that option anymore.

 

GI: Mountain, river, desert, island? In order of preference.

AK: I live in the mountains and after riding my mountain bike or running on a local single-track it is tough to take a smile off my face. Some of the best thinking and recharging (mentally and physically) for me is when I am on one of the trails near my house. The snowy peaks of the Sierra, Aspen trees turning yellow, alpine meadows packed with wildflowers, big California trees make the mountains tough to beat. But variety is exciting and important to me. Next weekend the family is taking the camper van down to the beach to celebrate my daughter’s birthday. Traveling and new experiences continue to provide me with a massive buzz in life.

 

GI: If pre-colonial was ‘0’, colonial ‘5’, and post-colonial ’10’ what number would you give your geographical imagination?

AK: I can’t imagine life without curry so that puts me safely to a ‘5’. But perhaps more significantly I can’t imagine life without the ability to relatively easily and cheaply visit new places around the world, meet new people and have experiences otherwise known only by the thought of it all. That belief pushes me more towards that double-digit end of the geographical imagination spectrum. Globalization is a game changer.

 

GI: By train, by foot, by bicycle or by car?

AK: Definitely by bike. I am in the midst of co-teaching an elective course this term with a small group of students that looks at the science, history and culture of bicycles. We have spent time looking into the historical and physical evolution of the bike across time and place. We are refurbishing salvaged bicycles. Initially, we needed to deconstruct each one and sort out which bits were still useable and what required replacing. Now our efforts are focused on cleaning, repainting, rebuilding and repurposing each bike to handle the rigors of a bike tour. The culminating experience of this class is setting off for a week long, self supported, urban geography focused bike tour of Northern California that will help us to answer the course’s Essential Question: What opportunities does a bicycle provide? We will spend time in Davis, California looking at the economic and lifestyle opportunities a bike friendly community provides. We will spend time in Sebastopol, California looking into the “Slow Cities movement.” We will spend time on a completely non-mechanized Sonoma County farm that uses bicycles to transport food to and from the market meeting farmers and, all the while, eating lovely local food. The distance between the mountains to the valley and eventually to the coast that we will cover (while not sacrificing the physical and sensory experience of being outside) peddles the bike ahead of any of the other aforementioned modes of transport.

 

GI: What is less important: Gross National Product or Gross National Happiness?

AK: GNP. I am fascinated by the idea and pillars of GNH.

 

GI: Favorite country name?  Favorite city name?  Favorite small town?

AK: Favorite country name: Nicaragua. Not too long ago I attended a reading in a theater where David Sedaris provided a hilarious account of how people who return from traveling abroad love to pronounce the places names that they visited with an overly exaggerated attempt at a local accent. Neeeee–car –a-GUA! Favorite small unincorporated community name: See question #2.

 

GI: Paper notebook or laptop?

AK: A paper notebook does not require updating my flash player (which apparently I am not very good at) or charging and can survive have a little coffee spilled on it now and then.

 

GI: What is the capital of Mongolia?

AK: The large map on the wall in my two-year old daughter Amelia’s room says Ulan Bator. Amelia and I spend quite a good deal of time discussing the places we have been and our upcoming adventures we will take together. Due to Amelia being vertically challenged – our recent geography lessons have been largely focused on the Southern Hemisphere. Central Asia may have to wait until she is three or at least a few inches from now.

 

GI: Do yaks have a geography? Explain.

AK: Sure. Yaks own a developed understanding of the Himalaya. They enjoy international wandering and are gregarious multipurpose animals. Yaks are adaptable to varied landscapes and are quite intelligent. They sound just like most of the geographers I know.

 

GI: Favorite geographical concept?

AK: I have always been fascinated by the study of place, culture and connectivity. I am interested in learning and thinking about how urban spaces change. I spend one week a year in Cincinnati, Ohio. The urban changes taking place on Cincinnati’s streets are exciting, considerable and controversial. Spending a few hours every day running, walking and marinating in geographic questions with a good friend is far and a way a just reward for otherwise a week of drudgery. Chatting up long term residents on the street, over a coffee or a pint and learning local stories of neighborhoods has helped me to connect to Cincinnati in a way that has shaped my thinking about how all places change and the big questions that urban morphology demands individuals and communities to consider. In graduate school one of my favorite activities was to head off on my bicycle and explore. Funny when this exploration was through a fairly small city that I “knew” very well. I knew the physical landscape well enough to miss the steepest hill if I wanted to. I did not need to consult a map when navigating the grid pattern of the city’s streets. Apart from the obvious super text of the city and its form there was energy from movement and urban changes that was ever present and thrilling to ride circles through. There always seemed an intersection that was in flux for one reason or another. There was a childlike thrill of discovering a new nook or cranny that showed me more about what living in this community was all about. The economic and cultural geography of that place was exciting, changing, clinging to its 1960s roots and always interesting to very slowly cycle through.

 

GI: Lastly, what does it mean for someone, some object, some place, some process to “have a geography”?  Please explain through an example of your teaching, research or creative work.

AK: Thinking as a high school geography teacher I guess it is when a student has a curiosity or openness to try and think spatially, build bridges between disparate places and ideas, and learn more about the world. Students in my classes that I would classify as “having a geography” take chances in discussions, guess and wonder. An interest in broadening perspectives goes a long way in geographic education.

Andy Knox lives in Truckee, California and teaches geography, history and social science classes at Sugar Bowl Academy.  For more information on Andy click here.