In a nutshell, the Quantitative Revolution in Geography took place as a response to criticism both within and outside the discipline that geography was not scientific enough. Further a landmark school, Harvard, ended its geography department, which brought alarm to many within the discipline. The response was to make geography more of a science. As far as I know, it was American geography that took the largest beating in terms of departments closing or merging. The UK seems to have the fortune that geography is considered as important as physics, etc. As for the discipline today, a common perception is the “specialization” of the discipline and of course the impact of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The latter, in particular, is definitely breathing new life into many departments as they begin to offer certifications in GIS. Also, a key geography department, PENN State, is now offering GIS certification via distance learning.

The AAG conference (100th) this month has a series of prominent geographers speaking on the future of geography. Perhaps, I will come back with more insight. Until then, I hope this helps!

In the UK there have been a number of departmental closures over the last decade. A number of departments in smaller, specialist institutions seem to have been taken over by larger departments in nearby multi-faculty universities. There have also been a number of cases where geography departments have merged with other subject areas within their universities.

For example, my department at King's College London 'merged' (i.e. took over) the Geography Dept from the University of London's School of Oriental & African Studies a couple of years ago and is in the process of swallowing up the KCL environmental scientists.

At Manchester, I think Geography is in the process of merging with Sociology, Anthropology and Planning (or something like that) into a new mega-department.

This is mainly because the restructuring of the high school national curriculum over the last decade has meant that fewer and fewer students are studying geography over the age of 14 and so there are less people around who consider applying for a university degree in the subject.