New Opportunities in Historical Geography: Guest Editorial

Traditionally universities and colleges have served as the employer of opportunity for aspiring geographers. The "baby boom generation" has graduated from the nation's universities, however, and its offspring won't make a significant numerical impact upon the hallowed halls of higher academia until late in the next decade. Demographics have dictated a contraction of the traditional employment market, and it behooves today's geography students to seek other outlets for useful application of the geographer's set of expertises. Alternative employment opportunities have proven particularly hard to come by for aspiring cultural and historical geographers. Consequently, the Department of Geography & Geology at Eastern Michigan University has introduced an applied graduate program in historic preservation planning, which was initiated in 1979.' More than thirty individuals have now graduated from this program. Admittedly entry-level career positions in historic preservation are competitive, but not to the same degree as is the case with university-level teaching positions in geography. Despite a contraction during the economic recession of 1981-83, the long-term trend of cultural resource management as an employment field, in its various dimensions, has been one of growth. This trend has resumed in 1984, and provides career opportunities both for cultural-historical and urban-economic geographers.