October 16, 2017 General Meeting: The Curious Geographer

October 16, 2017. General Meeting

Our October program featured Helen Goddard, the wife of a Professor at the Institute of Advanced Study, and an educator in her own right. Mrs. Goddard’s main interest is geography and her description of her talk was very enticing.

“A geographer seeks to understand the world around him or her. Why has the Appalachian Trail been extended to Ireland? What is a Dutch polder? Why did it take so long to find the source of the River Nile? Can Uluru really be an old delta? In this talk I will focus on a few of the many geographical features that are interesting to me and, I hope, will be to you too.”

Mrs. Goddard graduated with a degree in Geology from Cambridge University. She has taught in several schools including a state school for children age 11 to 18, The International School in Geneva, Switzerland, and a 6th form College in Cambridge, England. Since coming to America in 2004 she has taught a geography course at the Evergreen Forum and has spoken at various local places including Community Without Walls, the Friends of the Institute for Advanced Study, The Nassau Club, The Present Day Club, the Stuart Day School and Stonebridge and Windrows.

Apart from geography Mrs. Goddard likes to dabble in gardening and cooking, and she runs an English Conversation group for visitors to the Institute for Advanced Study every Monday. Speaking with her while arranging this program has been extremely enjoyable and enlightening. –Barbara Johnson

(Photos taken by Nora Ananos)