Gov. Tim Walz delivered his third State of the State address Sunday from his old classroom at Mankato West High School. Photo by Glen Stubbe/Star Tribune.
By now, many Americans outside of Minnesota have heard that our governor and Democratic Vice President nominee Tim Walz was a geography teacher. The question is whether most know what geography is and why this aspect of his resume is important.
The unfortunate reality is that most Americans have only a cursory understanding of geography because of its weak presence in K-12 education, which is not the case in most other nations that don’t share our history as a vast, inward-looking country. When most of us think of geography, what comes to mind are maps and memorizing place names. While knowing where countries and states are located is important, this is to geography what spelling is to English literature. The deeper truth is that the field of geography is now more important than ever for coming to terms with the world around us and a discipline that has been propelled forward in recent years by a powerful suite of geospatial tools such as geographic information systems, remote sensing and GPS.
As a geography professor and vice president of the American Association of Geographers , I often emphasize four key aspects of the geographic perspective : its focus on explaining spatial patterns (e.g., why do we see dense human populations here and not there); its attention to human-environment interactions (including both built and natural environments); its interest in comprehending what makes places unique (e.g., what historical, social and environmental factors converge to make my hometown of Saint Paul what it is today); and its determination to understand the global processes that bind us together.
While Walz certainly loves maps, it is also clear that he was interested in teaching more than just capital cities and rivers. He had a deep interest in educating his students about other areas of the world , helping kids in Mankato, (i.e. small city America) develop empathy for people living on the other side of the globe, as well as an understanding of how our fates are connected via global processes like climate change and transnational supply chains.
Walz’s interest in spatial patterns, his attention to human-environment dynamics, the recognition of the unique qualities of place, and awareness of these global processes have also influenced how he governs and thinks about the world as a political leader.
At the height of the pandemic, Walz used maps to explain the spatial pattern of the COVID-19 outbreak in our state, often seeking to articulate the processes behind the disease patterns. His drive to decarbonize energy production in Minnesota is indicative of the geographer’s desire to understand and act on both the social and natural dimensions of climate change.
His push to deliver free breakfast and lunch to all Minnesota students demonstrated an appreciation for food security — my own research area within geography — as eating is one of the key ways we impact the environment and feel its effects when droughts and floods occur. Lastly, beyond his own lived experience, Walz shows he gets rural America because he understands what makes each small town special as well as the global forces that are hollowing out rural economies.
Whether or not you agree with Walz’s politics, the fact that he was a geography teacher is important because it means he could bring this perspective into the White House. His geographic outlook is different from those before him, who were often trained in law, politics, business and economics.
As singer Jimmy Buffett used to say, “Without geography, you’re nowhere.”
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