The lack of geographic knowledge and cultural dynamics should not surprise educators. Geography is no longer required as a separate discipline in many school districts and indeed often is dropped from the curriculum after elementary school where it is studied on a limited scale--usually in the third and fourth grades. Few students have the ability…

Geography is not what it used to be. Nowadays, that subject is often buried--and therefore inadequately covered--in a social studies curriculum itself under siege because of the extended commitment in schools to reading and math. But geographical knowledge also is not what it used to be. It has become essential to understanding a brave new world…