An Appeal for the Re-Incorporation of Heartland and Rimland Theories into the Advanced Placement® Course & Exam Description

The recent developments in Eastern Europe have brought the theories of Halford Mackinder and Nicholas Spykman back into discussion. Despite their relevance to understand present and past geopolitical developments, they are noticeable absent from the course curriculum for AP® Human Geography. This article makes the argument that classical geopolitical theories, specifically Mackinder's Heartland Theory and Skykman's Rimland Theory should be re-included in the curriculum to provide opportunities to apply critical and feminist perspectives to help broaden students' abilities to critique geopolitical codes.