- Ph.D., 2006, Environmental Studies, York University
- M.A., 2000, Communications, Simon Fraser University
- P.B.D., 1997, Communications, Simon Fraser University
- B.A., 1995, English (Honors), University of British Columbia
BIO
I am a migration scholar and an urban geographer who uses primarily qualitative, interdisciplinary and community-based approaches to conduct my research. My key interests lie in exploring the complex relationships between people and place and especially in the ways that flows of capital, labour, bodies, and ideas may transform various landscapes. I am currently Professor in the Department of Geography and Geosciences and Director of the Global and Regional Studies Program at ̽̽. Additionally, I serve as a Science Advisor for National Institute for Food and Agriculture of the USDA and as an elected National Councillor for the American Association of Geographers.
My current research projects currently focus on:
- Community sponsorship of refugee resettlement in the US
- The environment-conflict-health nexus dynamics of migration
- Food security and transportation
- Social media narratives and forced migration
For more on my research, teaching, and community connections .
For more on my specific project on refugee resettlement in new destinations, .
Spring 2020 Syllabi:
I have also been fortunate to work with some exceptionally talented students at ̽̽. The following are just a few of the theses I have had the opportunity to supervise at the undergraduate level in recent years:
- 2022, Anitra Conover, Global Studies, Rethinking Burlington area food programming for New Americans
- 2021, Valentina Czochanski, Global Studies, Confinement during COVID-19: A case study of Vermont Prisons
- 2021, Sophia Knappertz, Global Studies, Comparative case studies of European crises: an analysis of the European project
- 2019, Gillian Tiley, Geography, Re-imagining Providence: The ‘Creative Capital’ Campaign and the Gentrification of Downcity
- 2019, Emily Klofft, Political Science, Non-Profits as Creators of Public Policy in Public-Private Partnerships
- 2019, Jen Mitchell, Geography, Defining rural education: exploring the relationship between place and public education outcomes in New Hampshire
- 2018, Tilden Remerleitch, Geography, Finding Home – Personal Stories of Refugee Resettlement in the U.S. with a Case Study in Chittenden County, VT
- 2015, Meraz Mostafa, Geography, Imaginative geographies of the Old North End
Courses
GEOG 060 – D1: Geography/Race&Ethnic in US
- Understanding the geography of race and ethnicity in the US is more than simply knowing why we can visit a Chinese restaurant in San Francisco, a Polish deli in Chicago, or an Italian café in New York City. While it is important to understand the locations of different social groups, it is about more than simply making a list of people and places. The geography of race and ethnicity in the US means engaging with important questions about the links between space, place and power. Examining such questions helps us to understand the shape of the world we live in today, both by looking at the past and at the present. How do we conceive of Los Angeles, San Antonio, or San Francisco as American cities without first understanding the historical conflicts between the US and Mexico? Can we understand why most Italian-Americans left Mulberry Street, NYC for the majority-white suburbs without understanding the development of highways and postwar housing? How have the legacies of colonialism, slavery, and segregation left their imprints on the urban and rural landscapes that surround us today?
GEOG 151 – D2: Geography of India
- The Indian subcontinent is a diverse, fascinating and culturally complex region, home to well over a billion people, multiple countries, and several major religions. This course will introduce you to the lay of the land, its people, and its politics. Using the frame of geopolitics, we will examine the relationship between space, place and power during several distinct periods in India’s history – including the classical, medieval, colonial, and modern era. Our focus will be on several important themes including colonialism and its legacies, the politics of religion, formation of the postcolonial nation-state and importance of development, and the significance of globalization and regional relationships for 21st century India.
GEOG 272 – Adv Top: Space, Power, Identity
- The focus in this class is on various forms of mobility – as embodied experience, as geopolitical and historical phenomenon, as constitutive of identity within and across borders, and as a central facet of a globalized world. Using the key geographical concepts of “mobility”, “migration”, and “transnationalism” we will explore the various ways in which people, capital, labour, ideas, and culture are in movement across the globe. Our examination will range from transport to tourism, from theories of stillness to ideas of nomadism, from understandings of nationalism to contestations over identity and much more besides. Using examples from different regions and disciplines we the course will look at how landscapes of memory, tradition, belonging, home and unfamiliarity construct and challenge the cultural politics of place.
Publications
and Director of the Global and Regional Studies Program at ̽̽. Additionally, I serve as a Science Advisor for National Institute for Food and Agriculture of the USDA and as an elected National Councillor for the American Association of Geographers.
My current research projects currently focus on:
- Community sponsorship of refugee resettlement in the US
- The environment-conflict-health nexus dynamics of migration
- Food security and transportation
- Social media narratives and forced migration
For more on my research, teaching, and community connections .
For more on my specific project on refugee resettlement in new destinations, .
Spring 2020 Syllabi:
I have also been fortunate to work with some exceptionally talented students at ̽̽. The following are just a few of the theses I have had the opportunity to supervise at the undergraduate level in recent years:
- 2022, Anitra Conover, Global Studies, Rethinking Burlington area food programming for New Americans
- 2021, Valentina Czochanski, Global Studies, Confinement during COVID-19: A case study of Vermont Prisons
- 2021, Sophia Knappertz, Global Studies, Comparative case studies of European crises: an analysis of the European project
- 2019, Gillian Tiley, Geography, Re-imagining Providence: The ‘Creative Capital’ Campaign and the Gentrification of Downcity
- 2019, Emily Klofft, Political Science, Non-Profits as Creators of Public Policy in Public-Private Partnerships
- 2019, Jen Mitchell, Geography, Defining rural education: exploring the relationship between place and public education outcomes in New Hampshire
- 2018, Tilden Remerleitch, Geography, Finding Home – Personal Stories of Refugee Resettlement in the U.S. with a Case Study in Chittenden County, VT
- 2015, Meraz Mostafa, Geography, Imaginative geographies of the Old North End
Courses
GEOG 060 – D1: Geography/Race&Ethnic in US
- Understanding the geography of race and ethnicity in the US is more than simply knowing why we can visit a Chinese restaurant in San Francisco, a Polish deli in Chicago, or an Italian café in New York City. While it is important to understand the locations of different social groups, it is about more than simply making a list of people and places. The geography of race and ethnicity in the US means engaging with important questions about the links between space, place and power. Examining such questions helps us to understand the shape of the world we live in today, both by looking at the past and at the present. How do we conceive of Los Angeles, San Antonio, or San Francisco as American cities without first understanding the historical conflicts between the US and Mexico? Can we understand why most Italian-Americans left Mulberry Street, NYC for the majority-white suburbs without understanding the development of highways and postwar housing? How have the legacies of colonialism, slavery, and segregation left their imprints on the urban and rural landscapes that surround us today?
GEOG 151 – D2: Geography of India
- The Indian subcontinent is a diverse, fascinating and culturally complex region, home to well over a billion people, multiple countries, and several major religions. This course will introduce you to the lay of the land, its people, and its politics. Using the frame of geopolitics, we will examine the relationship between space, place and power during several distinct periods in India’s history – including the classical, medieval, colonial, and modern era. Our focus will be on several important themes including colonialism and its legacies, the politics of religion, formation of the postcolonial nation-state and importance of development, and the significance of globalization and regional relationships for 21st century India.
GEOG 272 – Adv Top: Space, Power, Identity
- The focus in this class is on various forms of mobility – as embodied experience, as geopolitical and historical phenomenon, as constitutive of identity within and across borders, and as a central facet of a globalized world. Using the key geographical concepts of “mobility”, “migration”, and “transnationalism” we will explore the various ways in which people, capital, labour, ideas, and culture are in movement across the globe. Our examination will range from transport to tourism, from theories of stillness to ideas of nomadism, from understandings of nationalism to contestations over identity and much more besides. Using examples from different regions and disciplines we the course will look at how landscapes of memory, tradition, belonging, home and unfamiliarity construct and challenge the cultural politics of place.
