The University of New Mexico’s Department of Geography and Earth Data Analysis Center (EDAC) will host a lecture Tuesday, March 9, from 7 to 8 p.m., by Robert Julyan, chair, Geographic Names Committee (GNC) of the New Mexico Geographic Information Council.
The lecture, which is part of the Geography Department’s continuing series, will be held at the UNM Science and Technology Research Park auditorium located at 800 Bradbury S.E. The lecture is free and open to the public.
In his lecture titled, What’s in a Name?...the Colorful History and Changing Fabric of America’s Place Names, Julyan will discuss New Mexico’s Evolving Namescape. How Washington Pass became Narbona Pass; Why Rio de Arenas did not become Whiskey Creek; and more true tales from the files of the N.M. Geographic Names Committee. The GNC has been given formal responsibility for the state’s geographic names and makes recommendations to the U.S. Board on Geographic Names regarding new names, name changes or controversial names.
Julyan has been involved with geographic names for more than 25 years and is author of three books about place names: The Place Names of New Mexico, The Place Names of the White Mountains, New Hampshire, and Mountain Names.
He is a longtime member of the American Name Society, and has contributed articles and reviews to its scholarly journal, Names. While a staff member at the EDAC, Julyan led a three-year project, funded by the U.S. Geological Survey, that inventoried all the state’s place names, estimated to total more than 50,000.
Julyan has attended meetings of the U.S. Board on Geographic Names and has observed the evolution of toponymy from when it was solely the province of history and linguistics to today when geographic names have become an essential layer in GIS technology.
Contact: Steve Carr (505) 277-1821
Posted by kwentworth at March 4, 2004 03:49 PM