EUROGEO Cooperation
In the context of EUROGEO, South Korea and US cooperation, a special session took place at the EUROGEO Conference in Madrid (2021) on: Geographical Naming as Critical Content in Geography Education, with Dr. Joseph Stoltman (Chair, and Professor Emeritus, Western Michigan University, USA), “Geographical Naming in Northeast Asia: Sustaining Cultural Traditions”; Dr. Nina Scholten & Prof. Dr. Sandra Sprenger (University of Hamburg, Germany), “Naming Issues within Hamburg, Germany and its Educational Power”; Dr. Sungjae Choo (Kyung Hee University, South Korea), “The Validity of Critical Toponymy Perspectives for an Understanding of Human Perception on Places”; Dr. Aikaterini Klonari (Professor Emeritus, University of the Aegean, Greece), “The Benefits of Participating in the Korean-European Joint Conference in Seoul: Transforming Ideas and Knowledge”.
The session highlighted that Toponymy has experienced a renewed interest in geography and other disciplines. Discussions of geographical names have largely been focused on their location aspects in the past and their representation on maps. However, geographical names have also developed into a critical study and research topic when the question arises: “What is in a name?” Geographical names are examined for their ethnic, cultural and emotive elements as well as for their historical qualities and antecedents. This session was designed to present research and pedagogical papers on geographical naming and examples of the critical nature of naming as a topic in geography education. In the concluding session paper, Prof. Aikaterini Klonari who was a EUROGEO group leader at the 2019 Conference & Study Visit (European and US Geography teachers and educators to South Korea – October 2019 – organised in conjunction with the Northeast Asian History Foundation; https://www.eurogeography.eu/activities/south-korea-2019/) highlighted the intercultural & travel experiences regarding discovery learning whether in Seoul or the DMZ especially via toponymy.