About the Center
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The Gilbert M. Grosvenor Center for Geographic Education was established with the mission to encourage research and provide leadership in the movement to increase the quality of geographic education. The name of the Center is designed to honor the vast contributions that Mr. Grosvenor and the National Geographic Society have made in advancing the national reform movement in geography.

The mission of the Grosvenor Center is accomplished through development and implementation of innovative actions and events related to how students, and the general public, learn geography. Research comprises an integral component of all these activities. The Center sponsors, coordinates, and facilitates research and activities in such areas as (1) teaching methods, (2) student and public learning of geography, (3) curriculum, (4) assessment, (5) cognitive mapping, and (6) the uses of technology. Special attention is paid to geographic education issues at the university level. The Center's efforts also serve to influence changes in public policy that elevate the importance of geography in societies throughout the world.

The Grosvenor Center is organized to carry out the following functions:

  • Conferences
    The Grosvenor Center sponsors conferences of national and international scope in order to gather scholars from around the world to further research in geography education.

     

  • Publications
    The Grosvenor Center publishes a scholarly journal, Research in Geographic Education, along with occasional monographs and resource materials that reflect the mission of the Center.



  • Lectures
    A prominent element in the overall program of the Grosvenor Center is the Grosvenor Distinguished Lecture Series. These annual lectures are held at the Grosvenor Center and feature prominent geographers or public figures to whom geographic education has great meaning.



  • Workshops and Institutes
    The Grosvenor Center routinely conducts workshops and institutes designed to disseminate geographic education to anincreasingly wider audience. These audiences have included teachers from abroad spectrum
    of disciplines and people from underrepresented minorities as well as geography teachers.



  • Grants and Projects
    Procuring grant funding and conducting special projects in geographic education forms a strong component of Grosvenor Center research and activity. The Center seeks to collaborate
    with other interested organizations and individuals in this process.



  • Center Fellows
    From time to time The Grosvenor Center appoints prominent geographic educators as "Fellows of the Center." A "Grosvenor Fellow" participates in specific Grosvenor Center projects, perhaps a publication or a research project or a grant proposal. In addition, the Center Fellows program serves to increase communication among geographic educators.



  • Resources
    The Grosvenor Center serves as a clearinghouse for resources in geographic education. These include a variety of resources related to research, teaching, and learning of geography.


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