“And that’s … where again?”
This is the response I received all too often while exchanging names and hometowns during New Student Orientation at Brown. All this time, I had thought that St. Louis was a major American city. But on College Hill, it feels like it’s barely on the map.
Eventually, I became shy to even initiate conversations about my roots. I’ve loved my first semester at Brown, but I would have felt more welcome had my peers been more knowledgeable about U.S. geography. I can only imagine how overlooked students from rural communities or small towns might feel. As students at Brown, we should all be able to feel proud of where we come from and how our hometowns shaped us into the people we are today.
Surely, if we are taking classes as complicated as computational physics and ethnography, we would already understand a subject as rudimentary as U.S. geography, right? In my experience, for some students, the answer seems to be no. We have to make more of an effort to learn about all parts of the country. By being geographically ignorant, we fail to recognize our classmates’ origins and perspectives.
If you acknowledge different parts of the country and globe, you’re able to better understand the background of the person who may be sitting across from you in the classroom. Since just 7% of undergraduates at Brown hail from Rhode Island, almost all of us leave our home states or countries to come here. Despite this shared migration, it feels like there is only widespread knowledge about a few, well-represented places, like California, New York and Massachusetts. For some students, their hometowns influence the languages they speak, the fast food they enjoy and the etiquette they are accustomed to. Norms about what words to use or whether to smile at strangers differ from place to place. When we fail to understand the context behind someone’s perspective, it makes it harder to empathize with them and form a deeper connection.
In an academic context, being thoughtful about others’ backgrounds allows for more productive and meaningful discussion. A student from rural Indiana, for example, may be more likely to have been exposed to and therefore sympathize more with conservative political views than students who grew up in New York City or other urban areas. In the classroom, understanding your peers’ geographical backgrounds can help you understand what hidden factors might be motivating a response or perspective you haven’t thought of before. This enables you to better empathize with their viewpoint and provide a more well-rounded response to their argument, instead of just brushing their opinion aside as a take you disagree with.
The lack of geographic understanding is not unique to College Hill. In fact, it likely stems from a limited emphasis on geography in secondary schools nationwide. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, in 2018, only one-quarter of eighth grade students performed at or above the NAEP proficiency level in geography, a number that has only decreased since the first survey in 1994. Combatting this lack of proficiency is not often a priority in high school, where only 10 states require a high school geography course to graduate.
I know firsthand just how problematic this seemingly benign issue is: During New Student Orientation, others’ lack of knowledge about St. Louis made me feel like my perspective was not just undervalued, but non-existent in their head. When I would describe my childhood in Missouri, they looked at me as if I was explaining alien life on Mars. In fact, I was just trying to tell them about growing up in the 18th most populous state in the country. I felt uncomfortable and embarrassed because of others’ lack of geographical knowledge.
Every student at Brown should have a basic understanding of geography — including of non-coastal regions in the U.S. We cannot let our hometown perspectives be the only lenses through which we view the world. For a start, you should quiz yourself to get a basic understanding of where each state is. If you’re feeling ambitious, you can expand your focus to global geography quizzes. At one of the highest-ranked educational institutions in the world, no one should feel shy to talk about their home.
Clay Edelson ’29 can be reached at clayton_edelson@brown.edu. Please send responses to this column to letters@browndailyherald.com and other opinions to opinions@browndailyherald.com.
