On Tuesday, May 3 at 7 p.m. in McGregor Hall 113, Antioch College will present Ohio University professor of geography, Geoff Buckley, discussing “Reforesting the City: Equity and Opportunity in East Baltimore.”  As an environmental historical geographer, Buckley examines how past processes and decisions have lead to the environmental problems we grapple with today. He is particularly interested in urban sustainability and management of public lands, especially state forests and urban green spaces. He often frames his research using an environmental justice lens. Buckley has also studied the development of coal mining landscapes, particularly in the Appalachian region.

“One can argue that if we are to make wise decisions with regard to the environmental problems we face today, we must understand the complex web of human and physical processes that, over time, have contributed to their existence,” says Buckley.

Geoff Buckley has been a member of the faculty at Ohio University since 1998. Over the years his articles have appeared in the “Annals of the Association of American Geographers,” “Geographical Review,” “Historical Geography,” and “Urban Ecosystems.” He is the author of four books: “Extracting Appalachia: Images of the Consolidation Coal Company, 1910 – 1945” (Ohio University Press), “America’s Conservation Impulse: A Century of Saving Trees in the Old Line State” (Center for American Places), “Mountains of Injustice: Social and Environmental Equity in Appalachia,” co-edited with Michele Morrone (Ohio University Press), and “North American Odyssey: Historical Geographies for the Twenty-first Century,” co-edited with Craig Colten (Rowman & Littlefield). 

The May 3 discussion is the second of a two-part series, “Conversations About the City, Past and Present.” On Tuesday, April 26, Steve Conn, professor of history at Miami University spoke about his book, “Americans Against the City: Anti-Urbanism in the Twentieth Century.”

About Antioch College

Antioch College is a 165-year-old start-up, determined to use its re-opening to build and scale a model for what the liberal arts experience can be for all students in the 21st century—not a four-year retreat from the world, but a deeper engagement with it. Originally founded in 1850, Antioch has long been an agent of disruptive change, having been the only liberal arts college in the country with a required work component for more than 100 years. The cooperative education program reflects Antioch’s critical pedagogical insight that the separation of classroom learning from the world of work is artificial—a philosophy that has produced Nobel Laureates, Fulbright and Rhodes scholars, and notables in the arts, government, business and education. The words of Loren Pope, former education editor of The New York Times and author of Colleges That Change Lives, speak to Antioch’s unique capability: “Antioch is in a class by itself. There is no college or university in the country that makes a more profound difference in a young person’s life, or that creates more effective adults. None of the Ivies, big or small, can match Antioch’s ability to produce outstanding thinkers and doers.” The College, located in Yellow Springs, Ohio, is a candidate for accreditation with the Higher Learning Commission. Learn more at www.antiochcollege.org.