On Thursday, March 22nd the Geography 368 class had the opportunity to visit the campus of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Located a revitalized part of downtown Knoxville, this campus is the flagship of the University of Tennessee system. We arrived on campus and walked to the student union, where we met none other than Derek Alderman, the president of the American Association of Geographers (AAG). After taking a few minutes to give some background information about the University, Dr. Alderman took our group to Burchfiel geography building. This building is unique because it is the newest freestanding geography building in the United States.
Inside the building, we learned some of the department’s history and got to tour the building. It was interesting comparing the buildings facilities to those in Philips hall at UWEC. A unanimous conclusion was that UWEC cartography lab had a better computer setup. We also got to see a physical geography lab and a dendrochronology lab ran by Dr. Henri Grissino-Mayer.
A main reason for our visit was to learn about the graduate school program at the University of Tennessee as well as advice for graduate school in general. One thing that sets this school apart from others is their research partnership with the Oak Ridge National laboratory, a site best known for its role in the Manhattan project during WWII. The class had the opportunity to listen to a presentation about the University of Tennessee geography graduate program, along with advice for applying to graduate school in general. Along with the presentation we received folders with information about the graduate program and USB thumb drives with articles written by department faculty.
From this experience, the class learned that the geography program at UW-Eau Claire is unique in that it has great faculty and facilities, yet being a division 3 school with smaller class sizes it is easier to interact with your professors and get involved in research. Larger schools, such as UT-Knoxville, the faculty focus more on graduate programs with undergrads often being taught by TA's or graduate students.
Inside the building, we learned some of the department’s history and got to tour the building. It was interesting comparing the buildings facilities to those in Philips hall at UWEC. A unanimous conclusion was that UWEC cartography lab had a better computer setup. We also got to see a physical geography lab and a dendrochronology lab ran by Dr. Henri Grissino-Mayer.
A main reason for our visit was to learn about the graduate school program at the University of Tennessee as well as advice for graduate school in general. One thing that sets this school apart from others is their research partnership with the Oak Ridge National laboratory, a site best known for its role in the Manhattan project during WWII. The class had the opportunity to listen to a presentation about the University of Tennessee geography graduate program, along with advice for applying to graduate school in general. Along with the presentation we received folders with information about the graduate program and USB thumb drives with articles written by department faculty.
From this experience, the class learned that the geography program at UW-Eau Claire is unique in that it has great faculty and facilities, yet being a division 3 school with smaller class sizes it is easier to interact with your professors and get involved in research. Larger schools, such as UT-Knoxville, the faculty focus more on graduate programs with undergrads often being taught by TA's or graduate students.