UVic Geography Department
Historical Summary
The Department of Geography was established in 1963, the year in which Victoria College
(founded 1903) became the University of Victoria. The origins of the Department, however,
date back to 1947, when Victoria College introduced first and second year geography
courses, taught by Donald Kirk. In 1949, Kirk was replaced by Charles Howatson, who
offered introductory geology as well as lower-division geography courses. Ten years later,
Charles Forward was appointed as a second faculty member to facilitate the introduction of
a greater range of courses, following the 1959 expansion of Victoria College to a four
year undergraduate institution whose students were able to complete University of British
Columbia degrees. This arrangement continued until the establishment of the University of
Victoria in 1963.
Originally located at the Lansdowne campus (now Camosun Community College), the
University, in the mid 1960s, moved to its new campus 2 km away at Gordon Head. The
Department occupied its present quarters in the Cornett Building in 1966. With a faculty
complement of 7 it offered B.A. and B.Sc. programmes to a small undergraduate body. The
development of the Department since that time can be separated into six main phases, each
roughly associated with the term of office of the six Chairs.
With the move to the new campus, expansion took place under the first Chair, Bryan
Farrell, a cultural geographer. Playing a major role in planning for expansion of faculty
and facilities, Bryan Farrell believed that the Department should provide a curriculum
consisting of basic geographical elements, but that it should offer a few selected lines
of specialization rather than every specialty possible. The emphasis, he felt, should be
reflective both of the Department’s geographical location and of the problems faced
by modern society and the province in particular. Thus, the Department began with three
main foci: resources management/physical geography, urban development, and Pacific area
studies.
Together with Charles Forward, Charles Howatson and Richard Lycan, Bryan Farrell drew
up plans for laboratories in physical geography and cartography, including cameras and
darkrooms, which became a dominant feature of the Cornett Building. The University Map
Collection and a geography library were established in conjunction with the McPherson
Library. The Technical Section under John Bryant, and later Ian Norie, quickly developed a
reputation for cartographic and illustrative work. Faculty with interests appropriate to
the Department’s foci hired in the mid 1960s included Mike Edgell (biogeography),
Harry Foster (geomorphology), Burr Keen (Japan), John Maunder (climatology), and Derrick
Sewell (resources). In 1966, the University approved a graduate programme and the first
geography graduate student registered in September of that year.
In addition to the undergraduate lecture program, a strong emphasis on laboratory work
and seminars became a feature of the syllabus, with Gill McDade (later Sherwin) playing a
key role as Senior Lab Instructor after 1969. Student numbers increased in the late 1960s
and by 1970 total enrolment in the Department was 355 3 unit (two-term) equivalents. An
interdisciplinary, non-degree undergraduate Pacific Studies programme based in the
Department under the Directorship of Bryan Farrell was approved by Senate in 1969. New and
replacement faculty appointed in the late 1960s were Paul Juncker (biogeography),
Chuen-yan Lai (China), Peter Murphy (urban geography), Doug Porteous (urban geography),
Stan Taller (climatology), Bret Wallach (human geography), and Colin Wood (human
geography). Bryan Farrell vacated the Chair in 1969, and left to head Environmental
Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1974.
Charles Forward, a longtime member of the Department, assumed the Chair in 1969 and
served in this capacity for nine years. During his period of office the Department
consolidated the progress that had been made in earlier years and also embarked upon a
number of new initiatives. The appointments of Bill Ross in 1974 and Gerry Barber in 1978
resulted in new courses in resources management, urban development and urban planning.
Some of the regional courses were dropped—more because faculty were committed to the
systematics than because of a desire to abandon the regionals out of lack of interest. The
Western Geographical Series, under the editorship of Harry Foster, was commenced as a
Department publication to stimulate academic geographical publication in Western Canada..
A conscious attempt was made to increase the links between the Department and the
community at large, including a public lecture series focussing on Vancouver Island. In
1978 a Geography Cooperative Education programme was initiated, providing students with an
opportunity to gain practical experience while completing their academic training, and
offering employers access to well-trained students. The programme was initially directed
by faculty—first Peter Murphy, and then Bill Ross. A Cooperative Coordinator position
was established in 1981, and since 1985 has been occupied by June Whitmore.
The Department continued to play a role in establishing and maintaining
interdisciplinary activities at the University. Derrick Sewell and Mike Edgell were
members of a University committee that recommended the establishment of the Environmental
Studies Programme. That programme started in 1974, with Peter Murphy as its first
Director, and Department members have since continued to make significant contributions to
it. Mike Edgell assumed the directorship of the Pacific Studies Programme in 1975, after
which it became a degree-granting programme; by 1980 an independent Department of Pacific
and Asian Studies had been created, with several courses cross-listed from Geography.
The Forward "era" was marked also by Dr. Forward’s election to President
of the C.A.G. and the staging of the Annual Meeting of the C.A.G. in 1979, the first time
it had been held in Victoria. A special volume of the Western Geographical
Series—Vancouver Island: Land of Contrasts—was produced to mark the occasion.
Charles Forward’s 10 years as Chair saw the ideas of the Farrell era consolidated and
the emerging needs of the 1980s recognized.
Derrick Sewell was appointed as the third Chair in 1979 for a five-year term. Several
developments occurred in that period. A review of the undergraduate programme in 1981
resulted in structural modifications, with most courses changing to 1.5 (one term) from
3.0 units and shifts in teaching foci. There was an increased emphasis on techniques
courses. Under the direction of Patricia Gilmartin (appointed in 1980), cartography became
increasingly computerized and more popular. A course on field and surveying techniques was
added, and is now taught by Ian Norie. Another development encouraged by Derrick Sewell
was the introduction of more specialized courses in resources management and urban
studies. Bill Ross, for example, began to offer courses on fisheries and marine resources
and the coastal zone. In addition, courses were introduced on recreation and tourism,
taught by Philip Dearden (a Department Ph.D. appointed to faculty in 1982) and Peter
Murphy.
The Department’s earlier trans-Pacific links strengthened during this period,
although its ties with the Department of Pacific and Asian Studies weakened. In the summer
of 1984 Chuen-yan Lai led a tour of China involving geography teachers and students from
Victoria, and in 1985 Derrick Sewell visited China as a guest of the Chinese Academy
of Sciences. The city of Victoria was "twinned" with Suzhou, and the Department
sent representatives to the Planning Department of that city and to Universities in
Shanghai and Beijing. In return the Department hosted a number of eminent scholars from
China, and for the last three years has received visiting faculty from East China Normal
University in Shanghai.
The fourth phase in the development of the Department commenced with the appointment of
Colin Wood to the Chair in 1984. In spite of the generally austere financial conditions of
the early 80s, several new initiatives were launched, and the Department had a positive
internal University review in 1986/7. Patricia Gilmartin and Gerry Barber left the
Department in 1984/85; Mark Flaherty (rural development, statistics), Peter Keller (GIS),
Eileen Van der Flier-Keller (geology), and Olaf Niemann (remote sensing and geomorphology)
were appointed between 1985 and 1988. Geology had been a small but constant part of the
programme, taught by Charles Howatson until his retirement in 1983. Increasing demands for
additional offerings led to the appointment of Eileen Van der Flier-Keller, the
development of a full Minor in Geology, and hiring of sessionals to teach those courses.
The Department also became involved, with the Department of Physics, in the proposal for
the Centre for Earth and Ocean Research (CEOR). At the same time, Peter Keller rapidly
developed a GIS teaching and research programme, and a new micro-computer-based GIS lab
was established. Three years later, Olaf Niemann’s appointment added a remote sensing
teaching and research programme.
The Cooperative Education Programme expanded dramatically in the late 1980s, and by
1990 approximately 100 students were finding placements in private industry in addition to
traditional posts in government agencies. The Technical Section continued to gain national
and international recognition for the high quality of its work, particularly the
production of The Western Geographical Series. Other Department publications included the
Cornett Series, Park News and the Western Division, Canadian Association of Geographers
Occasional Papers (now the serial Western Geography).
The late 1980s were marked by the untimely deaths of Derrick Sewell in 1988 and Bill
Ross in 1989. These were followed by the appointments of Steve Lonergan (energy,
resources), John Mercer (urban) and Chris Barnes (as Director of CEOR with a joint
Geography-Biology appointment). Through the participation of Philip Dearden, Mark
Flaherty, Peter Keller and Colin Wood, the Department became involved in a major CIDA
project linking with the Social Research Institute at Chiang Mai in northern Thailand.
Philip Dearden has continued that Thai linkage in his recent research, as has Mark
Flaherty. Dr. Lai continues to work closely with the Chinese community in Victoria, and
has been especially successful in securing student scholarships. But the non-Canadian
regional focus of the Department is not confined to the Asian area. Doug Porteous has a
long record of important research and publications in the U.K. and Easter Island, and
Steve Lonergan is involved in Mid-eastern issues.
At a time when the University was emerging briefly from its period of austerity, Mike
Edgell assumed the Chair in 1989. A number of significant or proposed developments was on
hand, including new University Centres of Sustainable Regional Development (CSRD),
Integrated Energy Systems (IES), Housing and Land Use Studies, and a School for Earth and
Ocean Research (SEOS). John Mercer returned to Syracuse in 1990, but an additional
geologist, Michael Whiticar, was hired in 1990, and the Department became the home
department for the university’s new President, David Strong, also a geologist. In
1991 the department hired Dave Duffus (a Departmental Ph.D. who had been a sessional
lecturer for two years), to a regular position.
Development of the Geology programme and the establishment of CEOR led to the formation
of a new School of Earth and Ocean Sciences (SEOS) to which geology courses and faculty
were transferred in 1991. The establishment of the Business School led also to the
transfer of Peter Murphy to lead the tourism programme in that school. Changes to the
undergraduate programme included significant upgrades and additions to the Spatial
Sciences Laboratories, and revisions of the lower-level undergraduate programme in an
attempt to bring student demand more in line with resources.
The late 1980s and early 1990s were characterized by escalating student enrolment and
associated demands on resources. Partly because of the strong environmental/resources and
techniques programmes, undergraduate Geography enrolments increased at a rate 2.8 times
greater than that for the University as a whole and 2.6 times greater than that for the
Division of Social Science. Enrolment in the Environment Studies Programme, in which the
majority of students are joint Geography Majors/Minors, also increased rapidly. The 1992
appointments of Susan Elliott (medical/urban environment), Larry McCann
(urban-historical), Pamela Moss (feminist-Marxist), and Dan Smith (geomorphology) were
made to complement and expand the existing programmes, and, additionally, restored faculty
complement to 1980 levels. Yet lack of space and human resources necessitated the
imposition of enrolment caps, and this created a large unsatisfied demand for Geography
programmes.
The mid- to late-1990s saw Susan Elliot resign and a transfer of Pamela Moss’s
appointment to the Faculty of Human and Social Development at the University of Victoria.
Irena Creed (hydrology) was hired in 1997 to reinforce the physical geography program, but
chose to resign after a year and accept a position elsewhere. In 1998, Ge Lin (health
geography) was appointed to the department, with a shared commitment to the Centre on
Aging. The same year Martin Taylor (health geography) accepted the position of
Vice-President Research at the university and was appointed as professor in the
department. After serving for two five year terms as Chair, Mike Edgell was appointed
Assistant Dean and Director of Academic Advising, Faculties of Humanities, Science and
Social Sciences in 1999.
The next phase in the history of the department began with the six month appointment of
Larry McCann as Acting-Chair in the summer of 1999. Following the lead of the university,
over the following fall the department developed a ten-year faculty renewal plan as a
forward looking strategic guide. Dan Smith assumed the chairship in 2000 for a three and
half year term. The renewal guidelines established the previous term played an
instrumental role in the appointments of Maycira Costa (resources and geomatics) and Ian
Walker (geomorphology and hydrology) in the spring of 2000. In 2001, Denise Cloutier
Fisher (health and aging) accepted a Geography-Centre on Aging appointment to replace Ge
Lin who had resigned in 2000. The summer of 2001 also saw the early retirement of Colin
Wood.
In summary, the Department of Geography has played a distinctive and important role in
the Social Sciences since the founding of the University of Victoria. While our course
offerings and research activities continue to bridge the physical and social sciences, the
Department is now consciously developing a network of scholars focussed on the themes of
environment and society, geomatics, and the ecosciences. |
