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Stephen Cunha
Professor & Director, California Geographic Alliance
Contact Information:
Office: Founders Hall 134
Office Hours: MWF 2:00-3:00
Phone: (707) 826-4975
E-mail: sc10@humboldt.edu
Personal Statement:
I became a geographer reading National Geographic in my Grandmother’s attic. The musty old magazines, summers in Yosemite with an uncle, and reading the Travels of Marco Polo fixed an early and enduring interest in far away lands, especially mountains. Ten summers as a park ranger in Yosemite and Alaska and travels to every continent raised the flat map to life.
My goal as a geography professor is to help students enlarge and diversify their mental map of the world—to fill in the blank spaces with the social, economic, and environmental characteristics that order our world. During the last decade, the hurried pace of our global society—the rising dependence of nations upon each other for trade and security—makes geographical studies more important today than ever.
Along the way students must learn college level research, writing, presentation, and technology skills. A foreign language and another technical skill such as cartography/GIS, statistics, or graphic arts is also very important. Finally, a mix of summer employment and internships completes preparation for life beyond Arcata.
Recent travels include Myanmar, Alaska/Yukon, and Vietnam. Current projects include a grade-school social studies textbook series and another volume on environmental challenges in the Sierra Nevada. I also direct the California Geographic Alliance, a group dedicated to improving K-12 geography education in a state that will soon count 40 million people.
Specialty Area:
Environmental geography, mountain environments, Central Asia, Alaska, Sierra NevadaCourses Taught:
GEOG 105: Cultural Geography
GEOG 301: Environmental Conservation
GEOG 353: Mountain Geography
GEOG 411: Senior Field Research
GEOG 672: Graduate Seminar in Central Asia
Education/degrees:
PhD UC Davis - Geography
MA UC Davis - Geography
BA UC Berkeley - Geography
BS UC Berkeley - Conservation and Resource ScienceResearch Interests:
Biodiversity analysis and land use history, parks and protected areas, and geographic education. Current writing projects involve a grade school science textbook series, and another volume investigating contemporary environmental challenges in the Sierra Nevada.Publications:
Cunha, S. F., and L. Price, (in press). Agriculture, Pastoralism, and Forestry. In: Friend, D., Byers, A., and Price, L. (eds.). Mountains and Humans: A Study of Process and Evolution. Berkeley, UC Press.Cunha, S. F. 2009. Three Gorges Dam, Tarim Basin, Tian Shan. In: Encyclopedia of Asia
(5 vols.). Great Barrington (MA). Berkshire Publishing.
Cunha, S. F. 2008. Afghanistan to Zimbabwe: What to Expect When You’re Expected to
Teach Geography. Social Studies Review 47:2.
Cunha, S. F. 2007. The Badakshani of the Eastern Pamir. In: Brower, B., and B. R.
Johnston (eds.). Disappearing Peoples? Indigenous Groups and Ethnic Minorities in
South and Central Asia. Oxford (UK), Berg Publishers.
Cunha, S. F. 2007. Two Decades of Change at Glacier Bay. Geographische Rundschau
(International Edition) 3:4.
Banks, J. A., Colleary, K. P., Cunha, S. F., Echevarria, J., Parker, W. C., Rawls, J.,
Salinas, R., and Schell, E. M.. 2007. California Vistas: History-Social Studies for
Grades K-6. New York. Macmillan/McGraw-Hill.
Cunha, S. F. 2005. The Mountain Tajiks: Central Asia’s Forgotten Tribe. In: Burszta, W. J., Kamusella, T., and Wojciechowski, S. (eds.). Nationalisms Across the Globe: An Overview of Nationalisms in State-Endowed and Stateless Nations, Volume II. Instytut Slawistyki PAN (Slavic Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences), Warsaw.
Cunha, S. F. 2005. National Geographic Bee Official Study Guide, Revised. Washington, D. C. National Geographic Society.
Cunha, S. F. 2004. Allah’s Mountains: Establishing a National Park in the Central Asian Pamir. In: Warf, B., Jannelle, D., and Hansen, K.: WorldMinds: Geographical Perspectives on 100 Problems. New York, Kluwer.
Bockenhauer, M., and Cunha, S. 2004. Our 50 States. Washington, D. C. National
Geographic Society.Cunha, S. F. 2003. Tajikistan and Alaska. In: Page, M. (Ed.). Encyclopedia of Colonialism. New York. East River Books.
Cunha, S. F. 2003 To Bee or Not to Bee: Integrating the National Geographic Bee into the Middle School Curriculum. Social Studies Review 42:2.
Cunha, S. F., and Schell, E. 2003. E. Instilling a Passion for Geography. Social Studies Review 42:2.
Alford, D., Cunha, S., and Ives, J.D. 1999. Mountain Hazards and Development
Assistance: Lake Sarez, Pamir Mountains, Tajikistan. Mountain Research &
Development 20:1.Grants: 2009 S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation: Global California: Geography for the Classroom ($178,000)
2008 Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund, Supporting Environmental and Geography Education ($200,000)
2008 Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, Global California: Geography for the Classroom ($100,000, with the National Geographic Society)
2007 National Geographic Society, California Geographic Alliance Initiatives ($250,000)
2006 David and Lucile Packard Foundation: Endowing the California Geographic Alliance ($500,000; with the National Geographic Society)
2005 National Geographic Society Education Foundation Grant ($102,000)
2004 University of California Office of the President / California Department of Education, Geography Standards Implementation ($100,000)
Honors:
2007 California State University System Wang Family Excellence Award in Social &
Behavioral Sciences and Public Service ($20,000 prize)
2007 Hilda Taba Award for Outstanding and Enduring Contributions to Social
Science Education in California
2002 Professional Service Award, California Geographical Society
2001 Distinguished Teaching Award, National Council for Geographic Education
1993 Educator of the Year, California Geographical Society
1991-93 Grantee, United Nations University Environment Program
1991 Outstanding Faculty Award, Cosumnes River College
