{"id":770488,"date":"2026-01-11T19:59:33","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T03:59:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?post_type=arcnews&#038;p=770488"},"modified":"2026-01-09T15:55:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T23:55:09","slug":"building-community-in-geography-specialty-by-specialty","status":"publish","type":"arcnews","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcnews\/building-community-in-geography-specialty-by-specialty","title":{"rendered":"Building Community in Geography, Specialty by Specialty"},"author":5752,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","castos_file_data":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1041,430081,282062],"tags":[11062,301,209142,241,348462],"arcnews_issues":[493311],"class_list":["post-770488","arcnews","type-arcnews","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-collaboration","category-from-the-meridian","category-geography","tag-aag","tag-community","tag-geographers","tag-gis","tag-professional-development","arcnews_issues-winter-2026","arcnews_sections-gis-people"],"acf":{"short_description":"The American Association of Geographers\u2019 Specialty Groups help geographers with diverse interests find community.","pdf":{"host_remotely":false,"file":"","file_url":""},"flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"Geography touches every facet of the world we live in. This can be a blessing and a curse. Although it allows geographers to diversify their research to suit a variety of interests, geography\u2019s breadth can make it hard to \u201cfind your people.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe American Association of Geographers\u2019 solution to this dilemma is its many practice groups, known as Specialty Groups. As a professional association representing the wide range of practitioners, educators, and students in geography, the American Association of Geographers (AAG) seeks to sustain and serve its members in a way that helps them maintain the different facets of their professional identities while also reflecting the geography discipline as a whole.\r\n\r\nThis tension isn\u2019t new. In October 1976, during a relatively innocuous internal governance audit, the AAG Council established the Long-Range Planning Committee. The group was tasked with assessing AAG\u2019s organizational priorities, including member services, governance, and finances.\r\n\r\nOne of the committee\u2019s major concerns was membership fragmentation, which persisted through the middle of the 20th century. The committee came up with a solution to attract members while recognizing their need for specialty peer groups\u2014and this is where the Specialty Groups come in."},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<h2>Creating Connections in a Broad Discipline<\/h2>\r\nIn the 50 years since that internal audit, the number of AAG Specialty Groups has ballooned to more than 70, including many related to GIS, cartography, and remote sensing. The AAG Community program serves these groups, as well as nine regional divisions in North America. It also provides information and connection to the chairs of countless geography departments and programs. In addition, AAG has eight Affinity Groups for members in different career stages\u2014including undergraduates and graduate students\u2014and who have particular interests, such as mental health in the academy and caregiving."},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":770489,"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"While the Specialty Groups are affiliated with AAG, they are also largely self-governed. Each group can set its own policies (while following AAG\u2019s Code of Conduct), raise funds, issue calls for papers, plan sessions for AAG\u2019s annual meeting, give grants to scholars, and recognize excellence via awards. AAG members have attested that they\u2019ve made lifelong friends and formed strong networks through the Specialty Groups.\r\n\r\nBut the central question lingers: How can AAG ensure that its members feel valued for their contributions to the broader discipline, as well as within their more focused communities?"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<h2>Strengthening Collaboration<\/h2>\r\nThe AAG Community team recently introduced new approaches to support Specialty Group leadership. These include creating management systems for the work the groups\u2019 volunteer chairs do and helping communicate member services, opportunities, and group business such as elections. The team also helps Specialty Group leaders develop opportunities for their groups to meet and connect across their interests, since the cross-pollination of ideas is so important to geography practice.\r\n\r\nFor example, the GIS, spatial analysis, and remote sensing groups each have more than 300 members who often cross-collaborate. AAG\u2019s online knowledge platforms are teeming with opportunities that members share within and across the Specialty Groups, including faculty openings, calls for papers, talks, and networking events. Additionally, the broader AAG membership gets a peek into Specialty Group activities at AAG\u2019s annual meeting, where the Specialty Groups sponsor sessions, networking events, and social hours.\r\n\r\nIt is not uncommon for an AAG member to belong to half a dozen or more Specialty Groups. Membership in these groups is either free or very affordable (think $5\u2013$10 per year), added to a base AAG membership. The AAG Specialty Groups are often the top reason people remain members of AAG for years and even decades\u2014because they value the collegiality and information they get from these groups throughout the year.\r\n\r\nWhether you\u2019re a student just discovering GIS and geography, a researcher pushing the boundaries of current practice, or a practitioner applying spatial thinking in new contexts, there\u2019s an AAG Specialty Group for you. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aag.org\/groups\/?group_type=specialty_group\">Explore them all<\/a>."},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<h2>In Geography, the Big Picture Is a Mosaic<\/h2>\r\nIn a world of increased specialization, it\u2019s a privilege to work in a field as broad as geography. Within that extent, of course, there are dozens of specialties and subspecialties. As with many matters of geography, it\u2019s all about scale: Sometimes a big-picture view is needed, and other times it\u2019s better to have the granular details. In keeping with the interdisciplinary nature of the field, AAG is looking to meet both needs simultaneously.\r\n\r\nWorking together, let\u2019s ensure that geography remains a vibrant, inclusive, and multifaceted field\u2014one that thrives by finding common ground and shared perspectives via its diversity."},{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Center","content":"From the Meridian is a regular column from AAG, a nonprofit scientific and educational society whose members, from nearly 100 countries, share interests in the theory, methods, and practice of geography. Find out about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aag.org\/\">AAG\u2019s programs and membership<\/a>.","snippet":""}],"references":null},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.9 (Yoast SEO v25.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Building Community in Geography, Specialty by Specialty | Winter 2026 | ArcNews<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The American Association of Geographers\u2019 Specialty Groups help geographers with diverse interests find community.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcnews\/building-community-in-geography-specialty-by-specialty\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Building Community in Geography, Specialty by Specialty | 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