Fred M. Shelley

From Iowa Territory’s nail-bitingly close referenda for statehood to the rise and subsequent erasure of German language media, Atlas of Iowa examines the state’s geography, demographics, agriculture, and political/cultural patterns. Drawing upon archival materials and synthesizing little-known secondary sources, the authors of this thematic atlas have pulled together a comprehensive map series that depicts Iowa’s complex, unique story of challenging human-environmental interaction. The narrative themes are conveyed both verbally and visually, allowing many of the state’s cultural debates to come alive. From Iowa’s rise to becoming a national leader in aspects of higher education and green energy development to its oft-critiqued social fabric, the Atlas of Iowa reveals the rich, complicated, and diverse heritage of the Hawkeye State.

This thematic encyclopedia provides an overview of education in 70 countries worldwide and links educational organization, philosophy, and practice with important global social, economic, and environmental issues facing the contemporary world. All around the world, young people attend school, be it in the steppes of Mongolia, the tiny island nations of the Pacific, or the urban centers of Mexico. How do countries meet the educational needs of their citizens? This volume is organized into 10 chapters that look at key issues in global education, including literacy, gender, religion, science and technology (STEM), arts and humanities, school violence, multicultural education and diversity, environment and sustainability, education and difference/special needs, and views on education and a country's future. Each chapter contains eight country profiles, one for the United States and one each for seven other countries. Each entry includes a brief overview of the country and its history and geography, a description of its education system, and more detailed information about that country. This book allows readers to compare and contrast education throughout the world. It also analyzes, from both contemporary and historical perspectives, relationships between education and the ways in which different countries address various issues, including development, diversity, gender, and environmental sustainability.

2018 Nebraska Book Award The state of Nebraska has a rich and varied culture, from the eastern metropolitan cities of Omaha and Lincoln to the ranches of the western Sand Hills. The first atlas of Nebraska published in over thirty years, this collection chronicles the history of the state with more than three hundred original, full-color maps accompanied by extended explanatory text. Far more than simply the geography of Nebraska, this atlas explores a myriad of subjects from Native Americans to settlement patterns, agricultural ventures to employment, and voting records to crime rates. These detailed and beautifully designed maps convey the significance of the state, capturing the essence of its people and land. This volume promises to be an essential reference tool to enjoy for many years to come.

This important reference work examines trafficking from a geographic perspective and investigates the driving forces behind it and the powers that are trying to curtail the problem. The worldwide crime of trafficking involves countless people, animals and animal parts, and illicit goods such as drugs and weapons being moved and sold illegally. Often, the trafficking occurs with the local government or law enforcement's knowledge and complicity. This one-volume encyclopedia sheds light on a frightening and major issue, investigating the geography of trafficking and examining a range of examples of illegal human, animal, drug, and weapons movement around the world. After a preface and introduction that provides an exact definition of trafficking, the encyclopedia presents thematic essays that explore the various specific kinds of trafficking. Approximately 30 country profiles describe who and what is trafficked in each country, the motivations of those doing the trafficking, where people and things are being moved to, how the trafficking occurs, and what actions are being taken in an effort to prevent it. An appendix of primary documents, interesting sidebars, a bibliography, and a glossary listing key terms and important organizations round out the work.

Engaging Geopolitics provides a comprehensive introduction to the influence of geography, demography and economics on politics and international relations in the world in which we live today. The authors' expressed aim is to make geopolitics more accessible to undergraduate students, with the hope that the book will be an ideal starting pointing for those who will be moving vertically into more advanced courses in political geography or laterally into other concerns of international affairs.

Providing a valuable resource for secondary school and college students as well as the general public investigating the process of governance in different countries, this book provides a comprehensive comparative summary of how governments are constituted and operated worldwide. Political systems around the world can be a confusing subject. Why does England have both a monarchy and a prime minister? How does a federal republic differ from a federation and a republic? How is China a communist state without a dictator? And how is the United Nations managed? Governments around the World: From Democracies to Theocracies examines the major types of governments around the world, providing accessible descriptive country examples of each variation that allow readers to understand how governments operate and shape societies and cultures. An excellent resource for high school and college students as well as general readers, this compact one-volume reference work covers forms of government that include democracies, republics, communist states, monarchies, transitional governments, and theocracies as well as transnational organizations. Each chapter begins with an overview of that particular government type, identifying the general philosophies, practices, and ruling structures in addition to making comparisons of several key countries that follow that government type. Additionally, the content includes constitutional excerpts that clarify how human rights are conceptualized and articulated throughout the world.

This one-volume encyclopedia examines key topics, major world players, and imminent problems pertaining to the world's ever-growing population. According to the United Nations, the population of our planet reached 7 billion people in 2011. What areas of the world have the most people? What measures, if any, are in place to control the population? Why is Europe's population shrinking, while the rest of the world is growing? This eye-opening encyclopedia answers questions like these by examining significant issues and topics relating to the population and exploring profiles of the most populated countries and cities of the world. More than 100 alphabetically arranged entries focus on such topics as census, demography, megacity, overpopulation, and urban sprawl. Author Fred M. Shelley, an accomplished academic in the field of environmental sustainability, reveals the steps taken by major cities such as Rio de Janeiro, Paris, Tokyo, Beijing, Mexico City, Seoul, Manila, and New Delhi in handling their population, and what is being done in China and other countries to prevent overcrowding. The text includes a discussion of how factors like migration patterns, war, and disease impact population change. This comprehensive encyclopedia also includes primary document excerpts from court cases, legislation, and political speeches relating to population issues.

This book provides a concise and comprehensive description of all of the borders of every country in the contemporary world, including physical boundaries, their historical evolution, and border-related conflicts with other countries. Nation Shapes: The Story behind the World's Borders examines the importance of country boundaries, the disconnects between these borders, related factors such as cultures, religions, and economies, and how conflicts over boundaries between neighboring countries are articulated. The book is organized geographically and by region of the world: the Americas, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, South and Southeast Asia, East and Southeast Asia, and Australia and Oceania. It provides comprehensive descriptions of the boundaries of each country in the world, the historical evolution of these boundaries, and current and potential future boundary disputes and conflicts. While the work contains an entry for each country, the emphasis is on countries of major importance in the modern global economy.

2011 Booklist Editor's Choice, reference categoryThe Great Plains, stretching northward from Texas into Canada, is a region that has been understudied and overlooked. The Atlas of the Great Plains, however, brings a new focus to North America's midcontinent. With more than three hundred original full-color maps, accompanied by extended explanatory text, this collection chronicles the history of the Great Plains, including political and social developments. Far more than simply the geography of the region, this atlas explores a myriad of subjects from Native Americans to settlement patterns, agricultural ventures to voting records, and medical services to crime rates. These detailed and beautifully designed maps convey the significance of the region, capturing the essence of its land and life. The only current and comprehensive atlas of the Great Plains region, it is also the first atlas to include both the United States and Canada, showing the region's full length and breadth.