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Sicily

The Triskelion

Article-Grid, Europe, Historical Geography / Martin W. Lewis

What do the Isle of Man, Sicily, and the German city of Fussen have in common?

The Triskelion Read More »

About GeoCurrents

GeoCurrents is dedicated to exploring the geographical and historical patterns that underlie the world’s current events and that structure global and regional relationships. Maps are used in most posts not merely to show where events occur, but also to illustrate the processes involved.

Regular GeoCurrents articles try to avoid taking sides on contentious issues, seeking rather to foster an exchange of information and ideas. As its scope is both fully global and deeply historical, I am often operating outside my own fields of expertise. As a result, mistakes and simplifications can be expected. Corrections and elaborations are more than welcome in the comments section. Comments with insulting or abusive language, however, will be deleted.

Some GeoCurrents postings, however, do take strong positions on controversial issues. Articles of this nature are clearly marked as such. Some of these longer opinion-based writings are posted in a serial manner and are subsequently reorganized and re-posted under the “featured essays” drop-down menu at the top of the site.

About The Author

Martin W. Lewis is senior lecturer emeritus at Stanford University, where he taught world history and world geography from 2002 to 2022. He earned a PhD in geography from the University of California at Berkeley in 1988, and previously taught at George Washington University and Duke University.

GeoCurrents’ Conceptual Concerns

GeoCurrents is concerned with almost anything that has a geographical expression and hence can be explored and elucidated through maps. Geographical topics of interest range from the deadly serious to the quirky and whimsical. Political and philosophical issues are also occasionally explored, sometimes in considerable depth. Environmental thought and policy are of particular interest.

Many GeoCurrents posts take on issues of political geography, ranging from wars and ethnic conflicts to electoral returns. Behind these writings is a conviction that the basic world political map is unduly simplistic, making the world seem much more orderly than it really is. An elaboration of this thesis – entitled Seduced by the Map – is also available here in the “featured essays” drop-down menu at the top of the site.

Recent Posts

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Is This the Worst Map in Current Circulation? No, It Is This One!
Deeper Problems with Maps of “Excessive Drinking” in the United States
Could U.S. Counties with Low Levels “Excessive Drinking” Really Have High Levels of Alcohol-Induced Mortality and Low Levels of Health?
Does Gallatin County Montana Really Have the Nation’s Highest Percentage of Excessive Drinkers? If So, Does It Matter?
Mapping Religious Diversity
Recommending Terra Cognita, a New Geographical Substack Publication
The Hazards of AI Slop Maps
In Victorian Britain, Geography Was an Essential Pillar of Education, as Demonstrated in Charles Dickens’ Bleak House

Posts by Topic

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