"Mythical Realities": College Students' Constructions of the South Pacific.

In 2002, knowledge of college-age students in North was highlighted in a survey sponsored by National Geographic Society. Students in ranked second to last among those surveyed on questions assessing basic knowledge of world geography. That many adults got the wrong about particular places was clearly demonstrated by survey results. What is less clear, but equally worth engaging, is what adults glean about rest of world, in lieu of factual knowledge. For example, to what extent is vacuum of concrete knowledge about South Pacific filled by stereotyped visions of a magical, mythical paradise beyond ambit of modernity? This article provides an analysis of data compiled from surveys administered to 149 students enrolled in a general education area course on South Pacific at a Midwestern public university. The data suggest that most students bring a received wisdom on South Pacific to course in absence of substantive information, confirming that this lack of factual knowledge has not been devoid of any content but, rather, harnesses both specific notions of a tropical paradise and generic notions of native others created by popular media. INTRODUCTION In North, and references to world as a village have become catchwords and catch phrases of times. Yet, results of a National Geographic-Roper 2002 Global Geographic Literacy Survey designed to determine level of general knowledge about world geography among people (ages 18 through 24) in nine countries (1) suggest that language of globalization neither necessarily reflects, nor has generated, an interest in adults in North to discover world beyond their national boundaries. The survey questions sought to measure such basic knowledge as ability to identify continents, regions, countries and other markers, including oceans, on a map, as well as general familiarity with a number of facts of historical and contemporary political relevance on global scene. Of particular concern to National Geographic Society, which sponsored survey, was performance of lowest ranking countries, including United States. Young adults in answered an average of 23 out of 56 questions correctly, ranking 8th overall, with Mexico in last place. While reportedly young people in Canada and Great Britain fared almost as poorly as those in U.S. (Survey results, 2002, p. l), performance of Mexico and U.S., particularly in comparison with highest scoring countries of Sweden and Germany, was attributed to relatively lesser levels of international travel, a largely monolingual population, and insufficient emphasis upon, and valuation of, geography in school curricular in two countries (Survey Reveals Geographic Illiteracy, 2002). The survey performance of adults impelled National Geographic Society to mobilize a panel of representatives in education and mass media to spearhead proposals for policies that would promote greater levels of knowledge of, and interest in world geography. Of course, concerns of geographers go beyond need to generate an interest in their chosen field. At a minimum, wider implication of what National Geographic society defines as geographic illiteracy is a population that lacks identification or any sense of connection with, and appreciation for, a wider world that exists beyond their immediate environs. The authors of this article both teach undergraduate courses at a Midwestern public university in U.S., regularly instructing students that fit into demographic profile of those surveyed by National Geographic Society. One author is an anthropologist and other a comparative sociologist/criminologist and so both have experience teaching courses imbued with international content. …

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