Representation of the American South in North American Regional Geography Textbooks in the Twenty-First Century

The American South’s influence on cultural, economic, and political dynamics of the United States and broader perspectives of the South as a region continue to evolve over two decades into the twenty-first century. For instance, the southeastern US contains Sunbelt locales experiencing some of the fastest population growth in the country. Observers eagerly focus attention on local and state elections in the South as the region exerts considerable sway on the outcomes of national elections. Meanwhile, college-level regional geography courses about North America, which include coverage of the US South, are contained within many geography curriculums. Such courses play a role in shaping students’ perceptions of regions and are popular in many geography programs. This paper examines how contemporary North American regional geography textbooks, with editions published since 2010, portray the American South. How do these texts define the American South? What major topics do these textbooks include within their coverage of the American South and how do these topics compare and contrast across these texts? What impactful contemporary themes remain underrepresented, particularly considering ongoing current events in the 2020s? Findings suggest recommendations for contemporary pedagogy about the American South within North America regional geography courses and future research trajectories.