Home

Program

Faculty & Staff

Students

Alumni

News

CA Geog Alliance

Contact

Paul Blank

Professor and Department Chair

Contact Information:
Office: Founders Hall 110
Phone: (707) 826-4115
E-mail: pwb1@humboldt.edu
Web Site: https://www.humboldt.edu/~pwb1

Specialty Area: Cultural, economic, historical geography, Middle East, Pacific Basin

Courses Taught:
•Geography of the Mediterranean.
•Migrations & Mosaics
•Model Arab League
•Economic Geography
•Global Awareness

Education/degrees:
Ph.D. Geography, University of Texas, 1989
MS Geography, University of Wisconsin, Madison 1977
AB Sociology -Anthropology, Oberlin College, OH 1972

Research Interests:
Eurasia, the Middle East and the Mediterranean and Pacific Basins. Re-conceptualizing area studies to incorporate sea and ocean basins (particularly the Mediterranean and Pacific Basins), as well as new pedagogies involving large-scale floor maps (the "Big Map" project) and interdisciplinary teaching.

Selected Publications:

“The ‘Curse of the Tropics’ in the Writings of Humboldt and the Scientific Travelers of the Nineteenth Century.” Homenaje a Alejandro de Humboldt: Literatura de Viajes Desde y Hacia Latinoamérica, Siglos XV-XXI. Oaxaca: Carteles Editores (2005), pp. 87-95.

 “The ‘Big Map’: A Hands-On, Shoes-Off Tool for Geographic Education.” California Geographer, Vol. XLII (2002), pp. 77-85.

 Defining the Pacific: Opportunities and Constraints. vol. I of The Pacific World: Lands,  Peoples, and History of the Pacific, 1500-1900.  Aldershot: Ashgate/Variorum  (Co-Editor Dr. Fred Spier, Univ. of Amsterdam)  (2002)

 “The Pacific: A Mediterranean in the Making?” Geographical Review, Vol. 89, No. 2    (“Oceans Connect” special issue), pp. 265-77 (April 1999)