Source: Cherie Geiser, 785-532-7442, cgeiser@k-state.edu
News release prepared by: Donna Ekart, 785-532-7452, dfe@k-state.edu

Thursday, March 19, 2009

GEOGRAPHER BLAKE GUMPRECHT, AUTHOR OF 'THE AMERICAN COLLEGE TOWN,' TO PRESENT LECTURE ABOUT EVOLUTION OF AGGIEVILLE

MANHATTAN -- Aggieville will be the topic of a lecture by the author of a new book on American college towns.

Blake Gumprecht, associate professor of geography at the University of New Hampshire and the author of "The American College Town," will examine the evolution of Manhattan's Aggieville business district in a lecture at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, March 28, in the auditorium of the Manhattan Public Library, 629 Poyntz Ave.

The lecture, which also will include a reception, is sponsored by the Friends of the K-State Libraries, Manhattan Public Library, K-State department of geography and Varney's Bookstore. Both the lecture and reception are free and open to the public.

Gumprecht will discuss how Aggieville has come to exhibit the distinctive characteristics of college town business areas.

"The presence in college towns of unusual densities of young people and highly-educated adults has stimulated the development of shopping areas that are full of bars, bookstores, coffee houses, ethnic restaurants and other businesses that cater to those populations," Gumprecht said.

Gumprecht recently received the American Association of Geographers' J.B. Jackson Prize for "The American College Town," which examines a variety of college towns, with Manhattan and Aggieville prominently featured along with college towns such as Ann Arbor, Mich., and Ithaca, N.Y.

More information about the lecture is available by contacting Cherie Geiser at 785-532-7442 or cgeiser@k-state.edu.