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3 weeks ago | 
geographical.co.uk | Andrew Brooks
There were two outdated ideas from my 1990s secondary school geography classes that have long stuck in my memory. The first, from the physical side of the discipline, was the ‘shrinking apple’ thesis – otherwise known as ‘geophysical global cooling’. This theory was an alternative to the concept of plate tectonics. It posited that features such as mountain ranges were formed as the Earth cooled and shrank from an original molten state.
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Feb 28, 2025 | 
geographical.co.uk | Andrew Brooks
Today’s cinema listings are dominated by sequels, prequels and comic book movies. Every second new movie is a reimagining of an established story. It feels like filmmakers have lost their creative vision and nothing novel is being projected on the screens. Yet, some of the greatest films ever made have been part of established series. The year 1989 was a high-water mark in the history of the action movie.
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Feb 9, 2025 | 
overland.org.au | Andrew Brooks |Lana Tatour
We, the undersigned, write to express our condemnation of the decision by the Education Minister Jason Clare to request the Australian Research Council (ARC) to investigate the Future Fellowship of Macquarie University academic Randa Abdel-Fattah “as a matter of priority”.
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Dec 27, 2024 | 
geographical.co.uk | Andrew Brooks
On a derelict triangle of land between where my road meets another, a small development of three terraced houses was recently completed. Like many new homes in the UK, they were brick-built, conservative and lacked architectural flourish. A token effort was made to integrate the design with surrounding stone-faced Edwardian property, but this has merely emphasised the different quality of craftsmanship between the century-old masonry terrace and the quickly completed new row.
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Dec 3, 2024 | 
geographical.co.uk | Andrew Brooks
If you’ve visited Lisbon or anywhere in Portugal in recent years, then you will have encountered sardines. In the gift shops, there are plastic sardine keyrings, garish T-shirts and stuffed toys. In specialist emporiums, neat rows of metallic cans gleam under bright lights. In restaurants, waiters arrive with platters of grilled fish. The sardine has become a symbol of the Portuguese capital, but this tradition is a recent invention.
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Dec 1, 2024 | 
geographical.co.uk | Andrew Brooks
By As landscapes, flatlands have rarely been thought of as charismatic places. Prototypically, geographers are called to mountainous terrain. The ascent of faraway high peaks makes for the most evocative images of expeditions and fieldwork, and symbolise the disciplines’ colonial origins. Rugged, undulating physical geography is the zone where dynamic geological formations and geomorphological processes are rendered visible and capture the interest of environmental scientists.
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Nov 28, 2024 | 
overland.org.au | Kavita Naidu |Andrew Brooks |Lana Tatour |Sarah Abdo
In the Pacific, we know that climate change is exacerbating a human rights crisis. Our survival relies on the world following international law to limit the warming that threatens our people and shores. Yet the recent trajectory of Pacific governments picking and choosing which rights to defend and which to ignore is deeply troubling. At the core of international law lies the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the world’s highest court.
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Nov 19, 2024 | 
overland.org.au | Andrew Brooks |Lana Tatour |Jasmine Duff |Sarah Abdo
On 29 October 2024, the Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus that the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights will conduct an inquiry into antisemitism on Australian university campuses. The referral to the Joint Committee on Human Rights follows a months-long process of determination by the Australian Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs that included the solicitation of public submissions and public hearings.
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Oct 28, 2024 | 
geographical.co.uk | Andrew Brooks
By In the summer, I had two memorable holidays. The first was to the Peak District and the other to Cologne. As a child, I often visited Derbyshire, but it had been more than two decades since I had spent time in Britain’s oldest national park. The landscape has changed. Beneath my feet, there was the same course of sandstone; around me, familiar watercourses such as the River Derwent and Padley Gorge. Stands of ancient forest, fringed with thick bracken, still populated the valleys’ sides.
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Jun 4, 2024 | 
kcl.ac.uk | Andrew Brooks
Please note: the following article contains language some readers may find offensive. Dr Andrew Brooks, Deputy Head of the Department of Geography, said his book is not meant to be read as a tirade against comparison - but rather is positioned as a helpful and hopeful guide. “Like dirty windowpanes, these sort of comparisons give murky, distorted perspectives to the world.
