Stoddard, Robert H. 1928-

PERSONAL: Born August 29, 1928, in Auburn, NE; son of Hugh P. (a farmer) and Nainie (Robertson) Stoddard; married Sally Salisbury (a teacher), December 10, 1955; children: Martha, Andrew, Hugh. Education: Nebraska Wesleyan University, B.A., 1950; University of Nebraska, M.A., 1960; University of Iowa, Ph.D., 1966. Politics: Democrat. Religion: Unitarian.

ADDRESSES: Home—1131 Carlos Dr., Lincoln, NE 68505. Office—Department of Geography, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68588-0368; fax: 402-472-2865.

CAREER: Woodstock School, Mussoorie, Uttar Pradesh, India, teacher, 1952–58; Nebraska Wesleyan University, Lincoln, 1960–67, began as instructor, became assistant professor; University of Nebraska, Lincoln, began as assistant professor, 1967, professor of geography, 2001–. Visiting professor at University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, and Tribhuvan University, Katmandu, Nepal.

MEMBER: Association of American Geographers, National Council for Geographic Education, Association for Asian Studies.

WRITINGS:

Planning College Geography Facilities; Guidelines for Space and Equipment, Commission on College Geography, Association of American Geographers (Washington, DC), 1973.

Field Techniques and Research Methods, Kendall/ Hunt (Dubuque, IA), 1982.

(With D.J. Wishart and B.W. Blouet) Human Geography: People, Places, and Cultures, Prentice-Hall (Englewood Cliffs, NJ), 1986, 2nd edition, 1989.

(Editor, with E.A. Morinis, and contributor) Sacred Places, Sacred Spaces: The Geography of Pilgrimages, Department of Geography and Anthropology, Louisiana State University (Baton Rouge, LA), 1997.

Contributor to books, including Pilgrimage in World Religions, edited by S.M. Bhardwaj and G. Rinschede, Dietrich Reimer Verlag (Berlin, Germany), 1989; and Pilgrimage in the Old and New World, edited by S.M. Bhardwaj and G. Rinschede, Dietrich Reimer Verlag (Berlin, Germany), 1994. Contributor to periodicals, including Journal of Geography, National Geographical Journal of India, Rocky Mountain Social Science Journal, Professional Geographer, Himalayan Review, Contributions to Nepalese Studies, and Social Studies.

SIDELIGHTS: Robert H. Stoddard once told CA: "Although most of my published work is written for an academic audience, I enjoy organizing ideas for presentation to nonspecialized students."

More recently he added: "Geographers seek to answer questions about why particular phenomena (such as cultural landscapes, physical features, populations) are located where they are. For humans and their built environments, the answer often involves proximity to something because of the desire to minimize travel time and costs. For example, land values frequently are related to distance to the core of a metropolitan area, and the number of persons who come specified distances to shop in a particular district often is inversely related to the length of travel.

"I am fascinated by situations where humans do not necessarily minimize travel time and costs to achieve a desired goal. One of the most obvious illustrations of this spatial behavior is observed in pilgrimages. Although a decline in the number of pilgrims who arrive at their sacred destination from great distances does occur, numerous pilgrims are motivated by the very fact that they must overcome the hardships of a long and arduous journey to reach their sacred goal. Consequently, the spatial effect created by these pilgrims shows a direct relationship with distance. Because of this distinctive geographic relationship, I have been attracted especially to the study of the geography of pilgrimages."