Norman B. Leventhal Map Center examines the evolution of geographic education
The exhibition Back to School: Geography in the Classroom opens at the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library on Tuesday, September 2, and runs through January 25, 2015. The exhibition, curated by assistant curator Stephanie Cyr, focuses on the variety of formats used to engage American schoolchildren in the late 18th to 20th centuries to develop their geographic skills.
Traditionally viewed as an essential subject for boys’ and girls’ education, geography was taught to American children in primary school, and to young adults studying in high school and college settings. In this display of 40 maps, globes, games, atlases and related objects, the evolution of geographic education is examined through observing visual aids used by teachers in the classroom and viewing unique student-produced geography projects dating back hundreds of years. (more…)