A panel of scholars will discuss the geography of the 2008 presidential and congressional elections at 10 a.m., Saturday in the UND Memorial Union Lecture Bowl as part of the Great Plains/Rocky Mountain Division of the Association of American Geographers Conference being held on the UND campus.

Also part of the conference, geographer John C. Hudson, Northwestern University, will talk about how high-crop prices, developing international markets and advances in grain transportation technology contribute to a new strategic significance for northern Great Plains' agriculture. He will deliver his keynote lecture at 12:30 p.m., Saturday in the UND Memorial Union Ballroom.

The panel discussions will focus on how economic, social and political events (current economic conditions, race and the Iraq War in 2008) lead to alterations in voting patterns. They also will discuss historical voting trends, minority voting, effects of the mortgage crises on suburban voting, gender voting, generational voting and congressional seat changes in the U.S. House and Senate. Panelists include J. Clark Archer, University of Nebraska – Lincoln; Jeff Crump, University of Minnesota; John Heppen, University of Wisconsin – River Falls; Fred Shelley, University of Oklahoma; Robert Watrel, South Dakota State University; Gerald Webster, University of Wyoming; and Ryan Weichelt, University of Central Oklahoma.

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For more information, contact Brad Rundquist, UND Department of Geography, at 777-4589.