Commentary III geography as text and context: An Australian Perspective

Intellectual and institutional divisions between ‘science’ and ‘humanities’ and the narrow vocational emphasis of geography in Australian higher education diminish the attraction and inhibit recognition of the teaching of qualitative methods, especially in physical geography. There is a strong tradition of teaching qualitative methods in ‘arts' faculties and in geography where the interests of urban and regional studies allow and legitimise approaches found more naturally in cultural and historical geography. These imbalances might be corrected through foundation methods and philosophy courses.