1916: Geography and History - rapprochement

It was interesting to read, in the GA's Annual Report of 1916, that the Annual Meeting that year (which eventually became the conference) was the first joint conference with the Historical Association.

There were discussions on Halford Mackinder's proposal to combine the teaching of history and geography in elementary (primary) schools and the lower forms of secondary schools. There were reservations from Professor Muir of the HA that some geography teachers tended to use "crude and dangerously materialistic explanation of historical development"
The meeting was clear that both subjects were "working towards a common goal". There was still the spectre of environmental determinism being raised here and discussions over monotheism.

Meetings have been held between the GA and other subject associations over the years since, and the GA is part of CFSA - the Council for Subject Associations, with Alan Kinder acting as a Director.

There will be other geography-history related discussions reported here in future posts.