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The spatial variability of population aging in rural areas of Canada, and the demographic processes that underlie these areal patterns, are reasonably well understood. Research to date emphasizes processes of population redistribution (e.g., net out‐migration), regional economic change (e.g., resource‐based economic restructuring), and chronologically‐centred models of bodily decline as the major features of population aging in rural contexts. This literature has informed a wide range of gerontological research and policy, but there is much more to be said about becoming older in rural Canada. In this paper, we present the outline of a post‐representational approach to rural aging. We consider the influence of relational and non‐representational forces acting on the experience of aging in rural Canada. We then draw on reflections of earlier work in a particular geographic setting as a means to tease out "more‐than‐representational" considerations for discussion. We also echo recent calls to address a "blind spot" in geographic scholarship that overlooks the considerable extent to which older persons re‐shape their community environments. We conclude with an invitation for a greater engagement with older person/place transformations, including closer attention to the processes and performances of "aging‐through‐place" in other Canadian settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academic geographers are working in a system in flux. A series of interconnecting and overlapping social, political, and economic processes have resulted in a shifting academic climate for geographers and geography departments. This viewpoint brings forward evidence from multiple areas of study to provide a synthesis of this changing context. Challenges to geography include the role of "facts" and "truth" in society, neoliberal university contexts as workplaces, and generational change, among many others. This paper asks more questions than it answers, with an aim to promote an engaged and informed debate among geographers about our "place" in Canada's shifting academic context. Key Messages: Political, social, and economic changes are influencing higher education in Canada.Academic geographers must work within these intersecting and overlapping changes.The "place" of geography in Canadian higher education is under question. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To examine where Canadian geographers publish their research, we used data on article publication compiled from the annual Directory of the Canadian Association of Geographers for 1981-82, 1991-92, 2001-02, and 2011-12. We find a very wide range of journals (1238) is used, but many of them are rarely used. Papers published from 1981 to 2012 increased 3.7-fold with a similar increase in the number of journals used. Commercial presses have come to dominate publishing, society presses and university presses are fewer today but open access journals have become more common. Only about one quarter of the journals used have a Thompson Reuter Impact Factor (IF) but the median IF of IF-rated journals used rose from 1.56 (1981-82) to 2.23 (2011-12). The Canadian Geographer is the most frequently used journal, but over time flagship geography journals have been replaced by interdisciplinary and thematic journals. Papers published per faculty rose from an average of 0.5 yr−1 in 1981-82 to 1.7 yr−1 in 2011-12, with a large variation in publication rates per faculty across departments, reflecting the research versus teaching focus. Canadian geographers are publishing well beyond the field, engaging with much larger audiences, and reaching top journals, to the benefit of the discipline. La publication des articles de revue en géographie canadienne Une analyse des revues dans lesquelles les géographes canadiens publient leurs travaux a été réalisée à partir des données sur la publication d'articles dans l'annuaire annuel de l'Association canadienne des géographes pour les années 1981-82, 1991-92, 2001-02 et 2011-12. On constate un éventail de revues très diversifié (1238) et que plusieurs d'entre elles sont utilisées rarement. De plus, entre 1981 et 2012, les articles parus ont augmenté de 3,7 fois et le nombre de revues qui en ont publié a crÛ du même ordre. Les maisons d'édition commerciales ont fini par dominer l'industrie. Si les maisons d'édition associatives et universitaires sont moins nombreuses aujourd'hui, il est plus courant de publier dans des revues en libre accès. Thompson Reuter calcule un facteur d'impact (FI) pour environ un quart de ces revues seulement, mais le FI médian des revues indexées ayant fait paraître un article est passé de 1,56 (1981-1982) à 2,23 (2011-12). Le Géographe canadien est la revue la plus sollicitée. Les revues phares spécialisées en géographie sont graduellement remplacées par des revues interdisciplinaires et thématiques. La moyenne d'articles que chaque professeur a fait paraître a augmenté de 0,5 par an en 1981-82 à 1,7 par an en 2011-12. D'un département à l'autre, les taux de publication par professeur varient en fonction de l'importance accordée à la recherche versus l'enseignement. Les géographes canadiens publient dans divers domaines autres que la géographie, permettant ainsi d'élargir le lectorat et d'accéder aux meilleures revues, ce qui valorise la discipline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academic research on water by Canadian geographers encompasses both the physical and the social sciences. While this may provide for an integrated approach to water, there is limited engagement between the hydrologists who study the details of the hydrological cycle and those who study water resources and governance. This paper reviews the current state of water research in Canadian geography departments and possible emergent areas of research in the coming decade. As an overview, interjected with points of contention, future discourses on the subject may be encouraged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]