Where in the School is Geography?

In 2017, The New York Times published a study on Americans’ knowledge of the location of North Korea. Over 1,000 participants were asked to point to where they believed North Korea was on a world map, and only 36 percent answered correctly. One conclusion became clear: many Americans lack basic geographical knowledge. 

Geography is a branch of social studies that focuses on the relationship between humans and the environment, as well as the relationship between countries. It is usually integrated into the general social studies curriculum and is crucial to understanding history, yet many public schools in the United States do not dedicate much instruction time to the subject. As of 2026, only six out of 50 states in America require geography to be a standalone course to graduate from public school. People often assume geography is covered through history classes in elementary and middle school because the New York City Public Schools curriculum lists geography alongside social studies courses. However, this isn’t always the case. A study conducted by the U.S. Government Accountability Office on K-12 education found that most eighth graders are not proficient in geography. The study also found that more than half of eighth grade social studies teachers spend 10 percent or less of their teaching time on geography. In addition, U.S. schools tend to place greater emphasis on subjects like reading, writing, math, and science because social studies does not have a standardized national curriculum. As a result, this lack of proper geographic education can lead to disadvantages in later years of school, particularly in high school. 

At Stuyvesant High School, one of the only stand-alone geography courses is AP Human Geography, which is only offered to freshmen. After the COVID-19 pandemic, Stuyvesant temporarily stopped offering AP Human Geography to freshmen in order to avoid overwhelming them with an AP course workload. Although the course was later reinstated in 2022, some students who were interested in the course did not get the opportunity to take it. “When I was a freshman, I really wanted to take it. When they brought it back for the freshmen in my junior year, and I was like, ‘Darn, I missed that,’” senior Amanda Greenberg expressed.

Whether because of the temporary removal of AP Human Geography after the pandemic or larger issues in how geography is taught, students’ lack of geographical knowledge has started to attract the attention of social studies teachers. “I had students saying, ‘I have no idea what you are drawing,’ when I drew a map of the world on the chalkboard,” history teacher Dr. Zachary Berman shared. He also observed that students often do not recognize the shapes of continents and instead draw simple circles. One of the reasons for students being behind in geography may be that the subject is often seen as secondary to historical events. “History teachers get so sucked up by the ‘What happened?’ that they don’t get to teach geography directly to students,” Dr. Berman explained.

In the United Kingdom and other parts of the world, geography is a stand-alone subject and a required course. Students, starting from age three and ending at age 16, are required to learn specific geographic content as they progress through Key Stages, which are divisions based on age designed to maintain consistent learning goals throughout education. However, the United States has not placed the same effort and emphasis on the significance of geography in early education. The No Child Left Behind Act, signed in 2001, mandated public schools to administer standardized testing in reading and math through elementary to high school. However, this law does not include social studies, making it less of a priority than other subjects. Other factors include teachers not receiving the proper training to teach geography as a standalone subject, and the United States’ limited emphasis on global education compared to other countries.

Though the American education curriculum tends to undervalue geography, having a sense of geographical knowledge is essential. “It’s easier to connect different concepts together to see how they really affect people and places,” junior and Stuyvesant club Teen Maptivists’ Tech Coordinator Sonny Mei explained. AP Human Geography connects politics, geography, and culture, allowing students to understand how geography shapes policies, foreign affairs, migration, and cultural development.

In response to students’ limited geographic knowledge, some teachers at Stuyvesant have begun assigning map quizzes. “I give map quizzes in the first semester because you are often given world maps that show some sort of data point. I have had quizzes that ask students where Brazil, Africa, or Japan should be and things like that,” AP Human Geography teacher Josina Dunkel said. Mei, who took AP Human Geography with Dunkel, explained that when he first arrived at Stuyvesant, he had only a “mediocre” understanding of geography. Through repetition and active recall, map quizzes helped him and his fellow classmates become familiarized with the global layout of countries, oceans, and cities.

However, there is a limitation to the effectiveness of such quizzes. Global Studies teacher Vincent Daniel Tillman, who is currently on leave, also gave map quizzes to his students. “I remember [them] being around five questions, and he would show us a picture of a map with letters [and names of locations] and we had three to four minutes to list where each location was,” junior Dilasha Rawal recalled. Although the quizzes were initially helpful in improving geographical understanding, Rawal felt they sometimes encouraged memorization more than meaningful comprehension. “After a while, I kind of memorized it through analogies so I could know where everything was, but not really [understand] the perspective of their implications,” Rawal explained.

Rawal also suggested ways geographic instruction could become more effective. “Maybe [teachers] should include asking about important civilizations that used the body of water or location—for example, the Nile and the Egyptians—so we wouldn’t focus on just knowing what location the specific part of the map [showed], but also why it was important during that time,” she suggested. While map quizzes can improve memorization, they are not a complete solution to the lack of geographic literacy among students today.

Some teachers have also proposed potential solutions to make geography more relevant to history courses. “The best thing to do would be if we had a year of school in which students learn geography instead of history,” Dr. Berman suggested. Similar to how the other parts of the world have incorporated geography into their curricula, Stuyvesant could consider offering a standalone geography elective for interested students. Though the Global Studies Regents is titled Global Studies and Geography, making geography part of the requirements for the New York State and Stuyvesant diploma, it’s possible to revise the curriculum so that geography is not achieved just by taking a history class that overshadows it. Instead, it would become its own course and receive necessary attention and focus. 

Another way to incorporate geography into history courses is to make it a main objective for students to learn. “Requiring geographic knowledge is key. Sadly, that probably means putting it on standardized exams,” Dunkel said. Since one of the main issues is that teachers prioritize historical events over geography, including geographic knowledge on standardized assessments could encourage more consistent coverage of the subject.

Geography doesn’t just have to exist as another class at Stuyvesant either. Students can also engage with the subject through extracurricular activities such as Stuy Teen Maptivists, a club led by Dunkel. Teen Maptivists focuses on not only creating a safe environment for students to learn about and engage with maps, but also to participate in competitions, listen to guest speakers, and collaborate on real-world humanitarian projects through fun activities, snacks, and music.

Whether it’s through a class, extracurricular activity, or self-study, learning and understanding the geography of the world today is crucial for academic success, as well as essential for understanding the current political and social issues. Though it may not be obvious, geography affects global conflicts, elections, migrations, climate issues, and everyday life. It plays an essential role in understanding the causes and effects of issues that are prevalent in our society today and continue to affect us from the past. “You need both [geography and history] to fully understand each other,” junior and Teen Maptivists’ Communications Manager Grant Izzett added. By taking various initiatives to improve education surrounding geography, we can hope to prepare the next generation of students to become successful politicians, advocates, and members of their communities.`