Regional Geography

Our department offers a broad range of regional research and teaching specialties, covering Latin America, Western and Eastern Europe, Africa, and the Middle East and China. Within the United States we have particular expertise on the American West. This page describes some of the research done by Department Faculty members, please see individual faculty web pages for more complete descriptions.

Shaul Cohen’s primary regional focus is on territorial dimensions of ethnic conflict, particularly the tactics and concepts that underpin geographic conceptions of space, place, and identity. Current work focuses on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the situation in Northern Ireland. Recent publications include:

Cohen, S. Forthcoming, December, 2007. "Winning While Losing: The Apprentice Boys of Derry Walk Their Beat." Political Geography 26(8).

Cohen, S. 2006. “Israel’s West Bank Barrier: An Impediment to Peace?” Geographical Review, 96(4):682-695.

Cohen, S. E. and Frank, D. 2002. 21(6):745-765. "Jerusalem and the Riparian Simile." Political Geography.

Susan Hardwick's work in regional geography focuses on North America, especially the American West. She is also interested in the regional geography of the Russian Federation. Recent publications in regional geography include:

Hardwick, S.W. 2001. "Russian Acculturation in Sacramento," (in) The Geographical Identities of Ethnic North America: Race, Space, and Place, K. Berry, ed. Reno: University of Nevada Press, pp. 255-278.

Hardwick, S.W. 2001."California's Emerging Russian Homeland," (in) Homelands in the United States, R. Nostrand and L. Estaville, eds. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 210-224.

Hardwick, S.W. 2001. Mythic Galveston: Re-Inventing America's Third Coast Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

Derrick Hindery's research in regional geography focuses on Latin America. He is interested in the impacts of international economic policies from organizations such as the World Bank on sensitive ecosystems and indigenous peoples. More specifically, he has focused on the consequences of Enron and Shell's natural gas pipelines for Chiquitano and Ayoreo indigenous communities who inhabit the Chiquitano Dry Forest and Pantanal wetlands in Bolivia. In addition, he is monitoring impacts of natural gas export projects planned to bring gas from countries such as Bolivia and Peru to Mexico and the United States. Finally, he is also studying the effects of Chinese investment and Japanese financial aid on the environment in South America.

Hindery, D. 2006. La Tirania de las Transnacionales en una Era Neoliberal: Impactos de los Proyectos Hidrocarburiferos de Enron y Shell en Comunidades Indigenas y el Medio Ambiente en Bolivia (Transnational Tyrants in a Neoliberal Age: Impacts of Enron and Shell's Hydrocarbon Projects on Indigenous Communities and the Environment in Bolivia), La Paz: Producciones CIMA, 2006. (currently being published in Spanish as part of a special collection on the Bolivian Andes and Amazon for San Andres University (UMSA).

Hindery, D. 2004 Social and environmental impacts of World Bank/IMF-funded economic restructuring in Bolivia: an analysis of Enron and Shell's hydrocarbons projects. Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography 25(3):281-30, published in the Special Issue on "The Political Economy of Environmental Issues in Latin America."

Hindery, D. Forthcoming. Green-washing Gas or Conserving the Forest? Resistance to Enron and Shell's Chiquitano Forest Conservation Program," to be published by Latin American Perspectives for a special issue entitled "Ecological Struggle in Latin America: Re-conceptualizing and Re-envisioning Meaningful Sustainable Development in the Wake of Globalization."

Alec Murphy's work in regional geography focuses primarily on western and central Europe. He is interested in the changing nature of boundaries in Europe, the geographical implications of European integration, and the situation of ethnic minorities in European states. He has focused particular attention on developments in the Low Countries, France, and Germany. Recent publications in regional geography include:

Murphy, A. B., "Landscapes for Whom? The Twentieth-Century Remaking of Brussels." Yale French Studies (special issue on Belgium), forthcoming.

Kepka, J. M., and Murphy, A. B., "Euroregions in Comparative Perspective: Differential Implications for Europe's Borderlands." In Boundaries and Place, J. Hakli and D. Kaplan, eds. Boulder, Colo.: Rowman & Littlefield, forthcoming.

Murphy, A. B., "Rethinking the Concept of European Identity." In Nested Identities: Nationalism, Territory, and Scale, G. Herb and D. Kaplan, eds. Boulder, Colo.: Rowman & Littlefield, 1999, pp. 53-73.

Lise Nelson’s research in regional geography focuses on Latin America. She is interested in contemporary politics, economics and cultural transformations in the region, particularly as they relate to globalization and neoliberal restructuring. Her current work examines closely the changing nature of gender and citizenship in a Mexican indigenous community during a decade of significant political and economic transitions. Previous research explored ‘neoliberal’ forestry politics and indigenous communities in Michoacán, Mexico. Recent publications in regional geography include:

Nelson, L. The geo-politics of ethnic and gendered identity formation in the Meseta Purhépecha, Michoacán. Manuscript in progress.

Nelson, L. De-centering ‘the movement’: collective action and the sedimentation of gendered political discourses in a Mexican indigenous community. Under review, Society and Space.

Nelson, L. (2000) Remaking Gender and Citizenship in a Mexican Indigenous Community, Ph.D. Thesis, University of Washington.

Peter Walker's work in regional geography focuses on two areas: southern Africa and the western United States. In both regions he is interested in the interactions between social, political, and cultural change and human interactions with the environment. In southern Africa, he has examined relationships between macro- and micro- scale politics and resource management. In the western U.S. he has examined the 'gentrification' of formerly resource-dependent rural areas as it affects land use and environmental change. Recent publications in regional geography include:

Walker, P. A. and P. E. Peters. 2001. Maps, metaphors, and meanings: village forest use on private and state land in Malawi. Society & Natural Resources 14(5):411-424.

Walker, P. A. 2000. Democracy and environment: congruence or contradiction? Commons Southern Africa 2 (1):4-6.

Walker, P. A. 1999. Democracy and environment: congruencies and contradictions in southern Africa. Political Geography 18 (3):257-284.