Our Vision
Memorial Geography will be at the forefront of building connections with our dynamic societies and environments, and become the beating heart of collaborative and cooperative knowledge within and beyond the university.
Come study the world with us! The Department of Geography celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2020-21 and remains the only comprehensive geography program in Atlantic Canada, offering BA, BSc., Honours, MA, MSc., and PhD programs. At Memorial, Geography aims to teach students how to investigate environmental and human systems using interdisciplinary, field-informed concepts and approaches. Our Faculty teach students theories, methods and analytical techniques applicable to a wide range of questions and broad spectrum of occupations and to foster a spirit of inquiry about geography. Our research encompasses local, national, and international interests, including climate change, Arctic communities, coastal governance, electronic waste, immigration, marine habitat mapping, microplastics pollution, resource development, and urban development. Visit our Research and Faculty pages to learn more, and read our most recent Research Report.
News
The Departments of Political Science & Geography Present
“BECOMING AN AI CRITIC”
by Paris Marx
Since 2022, generative Al has taken the world by storm. Tech leaders promised it would change everything, mostly for the better, but as the technology matures the drawbacks are becoming ever more apparent. In this talk, Paris Marx will discuss how he developed the critical perspective he uses to assess new technologies and the companies that deploy them. In the process, he'll break down how he understands the impacts of generative Al and offer some ideas for where Newfoundland and Labrador, and Canada more broadly, might go from here on tech and economic policy.
Paris Marx is a tech critic based in St. John's and host of the critically acclaimed Tech Won't Save Us podcast. He speaks around the world about the politics of technology and recently co-authored a white paper called Reclaiming Digital Sovereignty. Paris also writes the Disconnect newsletter and is the author of Road to Nowhere: What Silicon Valley Gets Wrong about the Future of Transportation.
Paris is a graduate of Memorial University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, then went on to complete a Master of Arts in Geography at McGill University. He's now working on his second book, which focuses on the growth and costs of hyperscale data centres.
When: Friday, November 21, 2:30 - 4 pm
Where: AA-1043
Join the Centre’s four Fall Fellows who have been working collaboratively with meetings in the summer and fall. They will share some of their thinking in two guerrilla pop-up sessions as part of Research Week.
Featuring: Arn Keeling and Mahyar Masoudi (Geography), Nicole Whalen (Philosophy) and Lisa-Jo Van den Scott.
Friday, November 28 | 3:00 and 3:30 PM | Arts Atrium and MUN UC
Arn Keeling, MUN Geography, and John Sandlos, MUN History, speak about their new book, The Price of Gold, which traces the troubling history of Giant Mine and its toxic legacy.
"Giant Mine always stood out to us as being a special case."
(further coverage)