The Department of Geography in the
College of Arts & Sciences at the
University of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...
offers undergraduate degrees and graduate degrees and courses in
physical and
human geography
Human geography or anthropogeography is the branch of geography which studies spatial relationships between human communities, cultures, economies, and their interactions with the environment, examples of which include urban sprawl and urban ...
. The department has an international reputation for the study of
social theory
Social theories are analytical frameworks, or paradigms, that are used to study and interpret social phenomena.Seidman, S., 2016. Contested knowledge: Social theory today. John Wiley & Sons. A tool used by social scientists, social theories re ...
and
critical geography
Critical geography is theoretically informed geographical scholarship that promotes social justice, liberation, and leftist politics. Critical geography is also used as an umbrella term for Marxist, feminist, postmodern, posts ...
, including
political ecology
Political ecology is the study of the relationships between political, economic and social factors with environmental issues and changes. Political ecology differs from apolitical ecological studies by politicizing environmental issues and pheno ...
. Located in
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...
, the department is consistently ranked among leading geography graduate programs in the United States. The graduate students have organized the annual international conference, Dimensions of Political Ecology or DOPE, since 2010. In the summer of 2012, the department and faculty offices moved to the eighth floor of
Patterson Office Tower.
Since 1973, the department has named a scholar the Bluegrass Day Speaker (formerly named for Ellen Churchill Semple). This internationally renowned individual delivers an afternoon address and evening remarks at an awards ceremony. Past Bluegrass Day Speakers have included
David Harvey
David William Harvey (born 31 October 1935) is a British-American academic best known for Marxist analyses that focus on urban geography as well as the economy more broadly. He is a Distinguished Professor of anthropology and geography at t ...
,
Anne Buttimer
Anne Buttimer (31 October 1938 – 15 July 2017) was an Irish geographer. She was emeritus professor of geography at University College, Dublin.
Background
Buttimer grew up in Ireland with strong Catholic convictions. She studied at University ...
,
Peirce F. Lewis,
Harm de Blij,
Eric Sheppard
Eric Sheppard (born 1 October 1950) is a British and American geographer, currently Distinguished Research Professor of Economic geography at UCLA.
Background
Sheppard grew up in Cambridge, England, the son of Norman Sheppard and Kay McClean/S ...
,
Jamie Peck
Jamie Peck Royal Society of Canada, FRSC FAcSS (born July 9, 1962 in Kimberley, Nottinghamshire, UK) is Canada Research Chair in Urban & Regional Political Economy and Professor of Geography at the University of British Columbia, Canada. He is ...
,
Lynn Staeheli,
Trevor J. Barnes,
Sarah Whatmore and
Katherine McKittrick.
History
In the 1920s and 1930s, few universities in the
American South
The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is census regions United States Census Bureau. It is between the Atlantic Ocean and the ...
employed geographers. While there was evidence of interest in geography both in and outside the
University of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...
, educators deplored the meager offerings and the ineffective teaching of geography in the state's secondary schools. Indeed, there were preparatory courses in geography in the course catalog of the
University of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...
at the founding of the institution; the earliest course on record being
Ancient and Modern Geography' in 1865. Educators were pleading for more effective geographic instruction and the business world was demanding a content of more practical value. Among the prominent American geographers,
Ellen Churchill Semple
Ellen Churchill Semple (January 8, 1863 – May 8, 1932) was an American geographer and the first female president of the Association of American Geographers. She contributed significantly to the early development of the discipline of geography ...
, a native of
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...
, informally encouraged
Frank L. McVey, President of the University of Kentucky, to establish a geography program, when in 1920 she donated to the university the
Cullum Geographical Medal
The Cullum Geographical Medal is one of the oldest awards of the American Geographical Society. It was established in the will of George Washington Cullum, the vice president of the Society, and is awarded "to those who distinguish themselves by ...
(awarded to her in 1914 by the
American Geographical Society
The American Geographical Society (AGS) is an organization of professional geographers, founded in 1851 in New York City. Most fellows of the society are United States, Americans, but among them have always been a significant number of fellows f ...
). The need for a separate geography program was clearly demonstrated during the next two decades, but it was the decision of the recently appointed president,
Herman Lee Donovan, to recommend the establishment of a Geography Department within the College of Arts and Sciences early in the summer of 1944.
UK Geography would begin active work at the opening of the fall semester in September 1944. Since 1923, well before the establishment of the department, courses titled Physiography, Elements of Geography, Economic Geography, Conservation of Natural Resources, Land Problems, Geography of North America, and Geographic Basis of American History had been offered in departments of Geology, Economics, History, and Agriculture. These geography courses were transferred to the new department and additional course offerings in geography were approved for undergraduate and master's degree programs. Joseph R. Schwendeman, who earned a PhD from
Clark University
Clark University is a private research university in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1887 with a large endowment from its namesake Jonas Gilman Clark, a prominent businessman, Clark was one of the first modern research uni ...
in 1941, was appointed head of the new department.
Wit
J. R. Schwendemanas head, and three assistant professors, Harry K. Hutter and Guy N. Parmenter (also from
Clark
Clark is an English language surname with historical links to England, Scotland, and Ireland, ultimately derived from the Latin ''clericus'' meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone who was educated ...
) and Thomas P. Field (from
UNC-Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolling students in 1795 ...
) and an associate professor, Richard L. Tuthill (
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
), the new department had five full-time faculty and an enrollment of 354 students from 1944 to 1945. In 1952, James Shear (
Clark
Clark is an English language surname with historical links to England, Scotland, and Ireland, ultimately derived from the Latin ''clericus'' meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone who was educated ...
) and Daniel Jacobson (
LSU
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...
) joined the department to teach climatology and cultural geography. The department, along with anthropology and sociology, established an interdisciplinary general education course for first year students attending the university after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
entitled Societies Around the World. This two-semester program was taught by members of the three departments for most of the next two decades. Three societies were studied each semester. The first course examined the Eskimo, the Navajo, and Buganda in East Africa; the second analyzed three other areas: China, the Cotton South (in the U.S.), and the British Midlands. Thousands of students were enrolled in these courses to satisfy lower level requirements. It was a bold academic enterprise in multidisciplinary and cross-disciplinary studies led by the geography department. With the support of the
Sears Roebuck Foundation, the department also maintained a summer field studies program at this time in Monterrey, Mexico.
In the mid-1960s the department added new faculty to replace those who accepted positions elsewhere. William Withington (
Northwestern University
Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...
) joined to teach economic geography and North America; P. P. Karan (
Indiana University
Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...
) to teach Asia and physical geography; and Forrest McElhoe (
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...
) to teach regional and human geography. Faculty members were also involved in various international activities. James Shear spent 1957 to 1959 in Antarctica as part of the
International Geophysical Year
The International Geophysical Year (IGY; ), also referred to as the third International Polar Year, was an international scientific project that lasted from 1 July 1957 to 31 December 1958. It marked the end of a long period during the Cold War w ...
program; P.P. Karan spent 1957 to 1958 in Nepal as an assistant on the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
team that developed the first Five Year Plan for the country, and in 1964 to 1966 as leader of the Geographical Expedition to Bhutan Himalaya project supported by the
National Geographic Society
The National Geographic Society, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations in the world.
Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, natural sc ...
.
Between 1950 and 1960 the department averaged about 70 majors each year. There were 21 master's degrees awarded and 2,841 students were enrolled in geography courses from 1966 to 1967. Three of these earned a PhD in geography: Paul Cooper at
University of Georgia
The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...
; Sanford Bederman at
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...
, and Richard Silvernail at
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...
. The first MA was granted in 1948 to Wilton Tucker, who taught at a college in Lake Worth, FL. The department's influence was strongest on education throughout Kentucky and in neighboring states. Kentucky MA degree students were employed at Eastern Kentucky University, East Tennessee State University, Marshall University, Morehead State University, Appalachian State University, Minnesota, Southeastern Louisiana, Austin Peay, Western Carolina University, and as high school teachers, climatologists, and city planners in various places throughout the South. In 1967, Schwendeman received the Meritorious Achievement award from th
American Association of Geographers the AAG's highest honor. That summer, he retired after serving as head of department for 23 years.
There have been ten chairs of the department since Schwendeman's term as Head (a designation no longer used at the university),
#
Joseph R. Schwendeman, 1944–1967 (Head)
#
P.P. Karan 1967–1975
#
Karl Raitz, 1975–1980, 1991 (interim), 1996–2008
#
Stan Brunn, 1980–1988
#
Richard Ulack, 1988–1996
#
Susan Roberts 2008–2012
#
Anna Secor, 2012–2013 (interim)
#
Richard Schein, 2013–2017
#
Patricia Ehrkamp, 2017–2022
#
Matthew Zook, 2019–2020 (interim)
# Matthew Wilson, 2022–2023 (interim), 2023–2026
The first doctorates were awarded in 1972 to Thomas P. Grimes and Robert Daniel Joseph. The first PhDs awarded to women were Janice Averitt (1975), Helen Parson (1976), who taught at
Wilfrid Laurier University
Wilfrid Laurier University (commonly referred to as WLU or simply Laurier) is a Public university, public university in Ontario, Canada, with campuses in Waterloo, Ontario, Waterloo, Brantford, Ontario, Brantford and Milton, Ontario, Milton. The ...
, Macel Marteva Wheeler (1977), who taught at
Northern Kentucky University
Northern Kentucky University is a public university in Highland Heights, Kentucky, United States. Established in 1968, it is the youngest of Kentucky's eight public universities. The university has seven constituent colleges in arts and science ...
, and Wilma Walker (1977) who taught at
Eastern Kentucky University
Eastern Kentucky University (Eastern or EKU) is a public university in Richmond, Kentucky. It also maintains branch campuses in Corbin, Hazard, and Manchester and offers over 40 online undergraduate and graduate options.
History
Founding
...
.
Graduate program

Following a national search, Karan was named as chair in 1967. On August 12, 1967, the old Social Sciences Building which housed the department (on the site of the present Fine Arts Library) was gutted by fire, damaging or destroying most of the department's cartographic and meteorological equipment, wall maps, and other teaching aids. The department moved to temporary quarters in Breckinridge Hall for two years (1967 to 1969). In the fall of 1969, the department moved to the fourteenth floor of
Patterson Office Tower. A doctoral program was established in 1968 and the faculty size increased from four (Field, Karan, Withington, and McElhoe), to twelve by the mid-1970s: Dietrich Zimmer (Heidelberg), Donald Blome (Iowa), Paul Cooper (Georgia), Melvin Albaum (Ohio State), Gary Fowler (Syracuse), Roger McCoy (Kansas), Philip Phillips (Minnesota), Geoffrey Wall (Hull), Karl Raitz (Minnesota), Richard Jones (Ohio State), Ronald Garst (Michigan State), Richard Ulack (
Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...
). Wilford Bladen (Kentucky) joined the department in 1973 to strengthen the program on Kentucky geography. In subsequent years, some of the departing faculty were replaced by new appointments, including Richard Towber (Washington) and Allan Fitzsimmons (UCLA).
In 1975
Karl Raitz was named chair. Student enrollment in the program approached 2500 students each semester in the 1970s. Between 1967 and 1980, the department awarded 53 MA and 23 PhD degrees. Graduates of the department were employed at universities in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Kansas, Ohio, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Canada in addition to colleges and universities in Kentucky. Others held positions in state and city planning boards, in the U.S. government, and in civil service programs. Departmental interest in overseas areas grew rapidly during this period. The faculty conducted research in the Philippines, Indonesia, Sumatra, Western Australia, and the Himalaya and Japan with support from various funding agencies. This period also marked increased interest in the department's immediate surroundings with the publication of the first comprehensive ''Atlas of Kentucky'' (1976), an effort that involved the entire faculty.
To improve its standing on campus and in the state, the department received permission to hire two mid-level faculty members with established research records. In 1977 the department hired Tom Leinbach (
Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...
) and Gary Shannon (Michigan) who moved to Lexington, from the University of Vermont and the University of Florida respectively. At the same time, several recent PhDs were added to the program; they included Robert Cromley (
Ohio State
The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...
), Justin Friberg (Syracuse), Hank Bullamore (Iowa), and Jim Hufferd (Minnesota). The department was authorized to conduct a national search for a new chair, and Stan Brunn (Ohio State) was appointed chair, moving from Michigan State University in 1980.
During the next several years, the department experienced growth in a number of areas, including bringing in new faculty members. Some came on tenure lines, others as temporary, especially during tight budget times, and still others replacing those who moved elsewhere. The temporary faculty played important roles in the department's instruction, research and service missions. They included Percy Dougherty (Boston), George Hepner (Arizona State), Susan Macey (Illinois), Susan Trussler-Black (
Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...
), and Jacqueline Pryce-Harvey (Tennessee). Lizbeth Pyle (Minnesota) was the first woman employed on a tenure stream line; she joined the department in 1983. Carl Amrhein (SUNY Buffalo) was in the department for two years in the mid-1980s. John Paul Jones III (Ohio State), Graham Rowles (Clark), and John Watkins (Colorado) also came in the mid-1980s to bolster the department's strengths in human geography.
A number of faculty, including Ulack, Watkins, Raitz, and Brunn, worked with faculty in the College of Education; they offered summer classes for teachers and worked with other professional geographers in the state, with teachers in the Kentucky Geographic Alliance (associated with the National Geographic Society) and with staff in the state's Department of Education. Brunn and Raitz also served as State Geographer. Rowles, Ulack, Watkins, Raitz, and Brunn at the same time worked with the director and others in the Appalachian Studies Center on various research projects and outreach programs. Other faculty established linkages with units on campus, including the Patterson School (Bladen, Karan, Brunn), Behavioral Sciences (Shannon), Center on Aging (Rowles and Watkins), Economics (Leinbach), Anthropology (Raitz), and the College of Communications (Brunn). A number of faculty cooperated with colleagues throughout the university on a variety of programs to internationalize the university; these included Leinbach, Ulack, Karan, Withington, and Brunn. Discipline-wise the department increased its visibility with Stan Brunn editing ''The Professional Geographer'' and later the ''Annals of the AAG'', and with Tom Leinbach's appointment as NSF Program Director for Geography and Regional Science and his editing of ''Growth and Change''. Several faculty became active in SEDAAG, especially Brunn and Raitz, who served as president (1991–93). A summer field station in Kyushu, Japan was established to train students for field research in Japan and the international field experiences of the department were expanded in the late 1990s to include Oaxaca, Mexico.
1980s and 1990s: geography and social theory
Richard Ulack's appointment as chair of the department in 1988 energized the department's upward trajectory in the college, on campus, and in the discipline. It was during his tenure that the department began to develop one of its current major strengths: a center for critical social theory. The department played a central role in initiating and advancing this program during the late 1980s and early 1990s on campus and in by in the discipline. John Paul Jones, Ted Schatzki from Philosophy, and Wolfgang Natter (Johns Hopkins) in Germanic Studies established the innovative multidisciplinary
Committee on Social Theory in 1989. This program grew with contributions from additional faculty members in the department, including John Pickles (
Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...
),
Susan Roberts (
Syracuse
Syracuse most commonly refers to:
* Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse
* Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area
Syracuse may also refer to:
Places
* Syracuse railway station (disambiguation)
Italy
* Provi ...
) and
Richard Schein (
Syracuse
Syracuse most commonly refers to:
* Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse
* Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area
Syracuse may also refer to:
Places
* Syracuse railway station (disambiguation)
Italy
* Provi ...
), the later two who joined the department in 1991 and 1993 respectively. Under the auspices of the Committee on Social Theory, geographers worked closely with colleagues in Philosophy, English, History, Sociology, and Political Science. Committee founder
Wolfgang Natter later joined the department in 1998 (leaving the department in 2005 for Virginia Tech) and Ted Schatzki took up a joint appointment (Philosophy and Geography).
During this time, the department's international visibility remained strong with John Paul Jones serving as editor of the ''Annals of the AAG'' (1997–2000), Jones and Roberts organizing a 1995 workshop on ''New Horizons in Feminist Geography'', a number of faculty being active on AAG committees and in AAG specialty groups, and actively participating in numerous national and international conferences. The department's annual research productivity, including books, chapters, and presentations, etc. was instrumental in attracting strong applicants for entrance into the graduate program from the 1980s through the present. Students were active in contributing papers at SEDAAG and AAG meetings, working with faculty on research grants, and publishing articles with faculty or on their own.
The department's commitment to human geography was strengthened through participation in the women's studies program (now the Department of Gender & Women's Studies). Heidi Nast's (McGill) addition as a visiting assistant professor in 1994 was instrumental in the department's development of coursework and seminars on geography and gender. Haripriya Rangan (UCLA) took up a visiting assistant professor position in the department in 1995 and taught courses on resource use, non-Western environmental movements, and regional development. A further commitment to working with colleagues in women's studies was made with the faculty supporting the transfer of Paola Bachetta (Sorbonne) from the UK Department of Sociology in 1999 and the hiring of
Anna Secor (
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...
) in 2000, when Bachetta left the department to accept a position at Berkeley.
When
John Pickles
John Pickles (1952-) currently serves as the Phillips Distinguished Professor of International Studies in the Department of Geography at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Pickles attended the University of Oxford, where he obtaine ...
departed to take up an endowed chair at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...
and
John Paul Jones III
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second ...
became Dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...
in 2003, the chair, Karl Raitz, convinced the administration to authorize a mid-rank faculty hire. The department offered this position to
Tad Mutersbaugh who moved from the
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...
in 2003, deepening the department's strengths in
political ecology
Political ecology is the study of the relationships between political, economic and social factors with environmental issues and changes. Political ecology differs from apolitical ecological studies by politicizing environmental issues and pheno ...
. The department also hired
Matthew Zook (Berkeley) in 2001 and Michael Crutcher (LSU) in 2003 (he left the department in 2011), with strengths in economic and internet geographies and cultural and historical geography, respectively. The intellectual life of the department during the 1990s and early 2000s was also enriched by a number of postdoctoral fellows and visiting scholars, including: Miguel de Oliver (
Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...
), Heidi Nast (McGill), Amy Mills (UT-Austin), Alan Hudson (Cambridge), Ian Hay (Adelaide), Kristine Miranne (Wayne State), Caroline Nagel (Colorado), Tara Maddock (Ohio State), Perry Carter (Ohio State), Shantha Hennayake (Peradeniya), Nalini Hennayake (Peradeniya), Michael Crutcher (LSU), and Kathleen O'Reilly (Iowa). This period also saw the formation of a productive faculty exchange program with the School of Geography at the University of Nottingham that ran from 2003 to 2007.
The department grew from strength to strength when in 2006, two assistant professor lines and two associate professor lines were authorized.
Michael Samers (
Oxford
Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town.
The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
) and
Andrew Wood (
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...
) were appointed as associate professors from the
University of Nottingham
The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948.
Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...
and
University of Oklahoma
The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...
, respectively, to extend course offerings in economic and urban geography.
Patricia Ehrkamp (
Minnesota
Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...
) and
Morgan Robertson
Morgan Andrew Robertson (September 30, 1861 - March 24, 1915) was an American author of short stories and novels, and the self-proclaimed inventor of the periscope.
Early life
Robertson was the son of Andrew Robertson, a ship captain on the Grea ...
(
UW-Madison) joined as assistant professors from
Miami University
Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public university, public research university in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the second-oldest List of colleges and universities in Ohio, university in Ohi ...
and the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency
Environmental Protection Agency may refer to the following government organizations:
* Environmental Protection Agency (Queensland), Australia
* Environmental Protection Agency (Ghana)
* Environmental Protection Agency (Ireland)
* Environmenta ...
, respectively. Ehrkamp, with strengths in feminist and political geographies, and Robertson, as a political ecologist, orchestrated the return of the
Mini-Conference on Critical Geography to the UK the following fall in 2007. Marshall Wilkinson (Macquarie) also joined as visiting faculty in physical geography and geomorphology in 2006 and promoted to tenure-track in 2007 (he left the department in 2010). Jeff Levy (BA Kentucky) was also hired as department GIS analyst in 2006, joining Gilbreath in the cartography lab. Dick Ulack retired from the department in 2007 (he died in April 2011).
2000: strengthening physical geography
During the late 1990s, Linda Roth (Clark) offered courses in physical geography and biogeography a few years before her untimely death. The faculty for years, including in five-year plans, agreed that it was important to develop on such concentrations, following university commitment in 1989, not only to provide balanced course instruction for the undergraduate students, but also to appeal to existing and potential graduate students interested in human/environmental interfaces. The department's standing as a state-recognized Research Challenge Trust Fund department in the 1990s, one of only ten such programs on campus, enabled the department to hire a full professor to develop the physical geography program.
Jonathan Phillips moved to the department in 2000 from Texas A&M. He was given a broad set of responsibilities that included oversight in hiring new physical geography faculty, building a physical geography component to the graduate program, offering additional physical geography classes, setting up a physical geography lab, and working with other university faculty in the earth sciences and environmental studies. The department hired Alice Turkington (Queens-Belfast) in 2001 and Sean Campbell (Arkansas) in 2002 to strengthen the physical cluster (Campbell left in 2006). Rosemary Sherriff (Colorado) joined faculty in 2008 to offer courses in landscape ecology (she left the department in 2010). Daehyun Kim (Texas A&M) was appointed in 2009 to extend offerings in biogeography and spatial analysis. In 2011, the physical geography faculty expanded with the hiring of Tony Stallins (Georgia) from Florida State and Liang Liang (UW-Milwaukee), with interests in human-organism geographies and phenology, respectively.
Late 2000s: political ecology
Susan Roberts was named chair of the department in 2008. Tom Leinbach retired in May 2009 (he died in December 2009). Morgan Robertson's appointment augmented Mutersbaugh's work and catalyzed political ecology within the department. In the spring of 2011, the graduate students hosted the first
Dimensions of Political Ecology (DOPE) conference, which has since grown to become an internationally recognized event. Robertson returned to UW-Madison in spring of 2013.
Trushna Parekh (UT-Austin) served as a postdoctoral fellow, 2008 to 2011, and Sandra Zupan (UW-Milwaukee) was lecturer, 2010 to 2013.
Following Roberts's term, Anna Secor served as interim chair, 2012 to 2013. Around this time, a number of faculty won
Fulbright
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...
awards. Schein was the Bicentennial Chair in North American Studies at the
University of Helsinki
The University of Helsinki (, ; UH) is a public university in Helsinki, Finland. The university was founded in Turku in 1640 as the Royal Academy of Åbo under the Swedish Empire, and moved to Helsinki in 1828 under the sponsorship of Alexander ...
, Finland, 2012 to 2013. Fulbright Fellowships were also won by Roberts (
University of Turku
The University of Turku (, shortened ''UTU'') is a multidisciplinary public university with eight faculties located in the city of Turku in southwestern Finland. The university also has campuses in Rauma and Pori and research stations in Kevo ...
, Finland, 2012 to 2013), Samers (
Université de Lille II, France, 2013 to 2014), and Zook (
University of Tartu
The University of Tartu (UT; ; ) is a public research university located in the city of Tartu, Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is also the largest and oldest university in the country. , Estonia, 2013 to 2014). In addition, Matthew W. Wilson (hired in 2011) was a visiting assistant professor at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
. In 2013, Lynn Phillips moved to the tenure track, following several years of service as a lecturer in the department, after receiving a PhD in city planning at the University of Louisville. Secor received recognition in 2015 when the university named her named the Hajja Razia Sharif Sheikh Islamic Studies Professor.
Rich Schein was appointed the eighth chair of the department in 2013.
Betsy Beymer-Farris (Illinois) joined the faculty from
Furman University
Furman University is a private university in Greenville, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1826 and named after Baptist pastor Richard Furman, the Liberal arts college, liberal arts university is the oldest private institution of higher l ...
in 2014 to further expand offerings in political ecology, with research concentrations in Africa. Raitz retired in 2014 and Brunn retired in 2015.
Carolyn Finney (
Clark
Clark is an English language surname with historical links to England, Scotland, and Ireland, ultimately derived from the Latin ''clericus'' meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone who was educated ...
) joined the faculty from
Berkeley
Berkeley most often refers to:
*Berkeley, California, a city in the United States
**University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California
*George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher
Berkeley may also refer to ...
in 2015, with research interests in the cultural geographies of the environment.
Early 2010s: critical mapping

In the early 1970s, Gyula (Julius) Pauer (Kentucky) was appointed director of the department's cartography laboratory. In addition to teaching introductory and advanced cartography courses, he operated the laboratory, initially in a small room in Patterson Office Tower before it moved to the nearby and renovated Miller Hall basement in 1987. When Michael Kennedy joined the department from the College of Architecture in 1991, he began the department's GIS program with only a single computer. The hiring of Francis Harvey (Washington) in 1998 strengthened the department's GIS and social theory offerings. This concretized interests of the faculty in the GIS & Society debates of the 1990s. Edited by Pickles, ''Ground Truth'' was published in 1995 with contributions from Roberts, Schein, Jon Goss (Kentucky), and Pat McHaffie (Kentucky) -- this text quickly catalyzed the development of critical GIS. When Julius Pauer retired in 1997, the department received permission to hire a permanent staff line a director of the Cartographic Laboratory: Richard (Dick) Gilbreath (MA Kentucky). In 1998, Ulack, Raitz, and Pauer also edited a second ''Atlas of Kentucky''.
Michael Kennedy's phased retirement created an opportunity to grow the GIS and cartography faculty. Drawing on the GIS & Society tradition begun by Pickles and Harvey (who left for Minnesota in 2001), the department appointed two new faculty in 2011: Jeremy Crampton (
Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...
) from Georgia State and Matthew W. Wilson (Washington) from Ball State. Crampton, Wilson, and Zook founded th
''New Mappings Collaboratory''in Fall of 2011, joining another UK-centered research activity on internet geographies, led by Zook since 2009
''Floating Sheep''
With support to establish online certificate and degree programs in digital mapping, the department hired
Rich Donohue (Wisconsin) as a postdoctoral researcher in 2014. Donohue, along with Zook, Wilson, and Crampton, develope
''New Maps Plus'' expanding cartography and GIS coursework in web-based interactive cartography,
geovisualization
Geovisualization or geovisualisation (short for geographic visualization), also known as cartographic visualization, refers to a set of tools and techniques supporting the analysis of geospatial data through the use of interactive visualization.
...
, and map design. New Maps Plus offers an entirely online graduate certificate in digital mapping and an online Master of Science in Digital Mapping. The first students to earn this MS degree graduated in 2019.
Late 2010s: expanding the faculty
The late-2010s included a number of changes in the faculty, including the death of P.P Karan in 2018 after over 60 years of serving the department and university. In 2016, after serving a year as Associate Dean of International Affairs, Sue Roberts was appointed Associate Provost for Internationalization. Upon promotion to Associate Dean of Faculty in 2017, Rich Schein stepped down as chair. Patricia Ehrkamp was appointed chair, only the ninth chair of the department in nearly 75 years. After several years as an affiliated member of the department, Ted Schatzki (Berkeley) joined the department, having previously served as Associate Dean of Faculty and Professor of Philosophy at Kentucky. Daehyun Kim left the department in 2017, returning to Seoul National University and Jeremy Crampton left the department in 2018 to join the faculty at Newcastle University. Carolyn Finney also left the faculty in 2018. In 2018, the department welcomed four new assistant professors. Jack Gieseking (CUNY) and Nick Lally (Wisconsin) expanded the offerings in digital geographies. Nari Senanayake's (
Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...
) research and teaching in health geographies and Priscilla McCutcheon's (Georgia) work in
food justice
Food security is the state of having reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, healthy Human food, food. The availability of food for people of any class, gender, ethnicity, or religion is another element of food protection. Simila ...
represent new offerings for the department. Boyd Shearer was also made a permanent lecturer. In 2019, Anna Secor joined the faculty at Durham University, while Rich Donohue was appointed as assistant professor. As part of an effort to support the African American and African Studies program, Lydia Pelot-Hobbs (CUNY) was hired in 2019, but deferred for a year to complete post-doctoral research at NYU.
Early 2020s: COVID-19 and environmental studies
The arrival of
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic.
The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...
in Kentucky led to the first video conference meeting for the entire department (with over 30 participants) on 25 March 2020. On May 6, 2020, the department conducted a virtual graduation ceremony/Semple Day (renamed Geography in the Bluegrass Day) to recognize the accomplishments of graduating students. After over 40 years of service to the department, Gary Shannon retired in June 2020. Jonathan Phillips retired after his last semester of teaching in the Fall of 2020. The interdisciplinary major of environmental and sustainability studies moved under the department's administration, led by efforts of Betsy Beymer-Farris. This followed a revision of the undergraduate major in the summer of 2020, including the offering of a new minor in urban studies. A new online graduate program in applied environmental and sustainability studies (AENS) was also launched, with support from a postdoctoral hire: Kathryn Gillespie (Washington). In 2022, Matthew Wilson was appointed as interim chair, and Jack Gieseking and Katie Gillespie left the program. To support AENS, Clare Beer (UCLA) was hired as a visiting assistant professor in 2023, leaving after one semester. Wilson was named the chair and Abdul Aijaz (Indiana) was hired into a VAP position, 2023–2024. In February 2024, Patricia Ehrkamp was elected as the President of the AAG (American Association of Geographers) for a one-year term, following her one-year term as Vice President of the AAG in 2023. In 2024, Rich Donohue and Betsy Beymer-Farris left the program, while Sopheak Chann (Sydney) was hired as an instructor in political ecology, and Alicia Barceinas Cruz (Wisconsin) was hired to deepen offerings in environmental studies, with her research in the political ecology of borders.
Current research
Research in the department is organized in the following research clusters:
*
Black Geographies
*
Critical Financial Geographies
*
Critical Mapping and GIS
*
Digital Geographies
*
Environmental Geographies
*
Political Ecology
Political ecology is the study of the relationships between political, economic and social factors with environmental issues and changes. Political ecology differs from apolitical ecological studies by politicizing environmental issues and pheno ...
*
Political Geographies
*
Queer and Feminist Geographies
*
Social Theory
Social theories are analytical frameworks, or paradigms, that are used to study and interpret social phenomena.Seidman, S., 2016. Contested knowledge: Social theory today. John Wiley & Sons. A tool used by social scientists, social theories re ...
*
Urban Geographies
Notable departmental people with Wikipedia pages
*
John Pickles
John Pickles (1952-) currently serves as the Phillips Distinguished Professor of International Studies in the Department of Geography at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Pickles attended the University of Oxford, where he obtaine ...
, former faculty member; now professor at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...
*
Matthew Zook, current University Research Professor in Economic Geography
Faculty
There have been over 90 faculty in the department since its founding:
#
Joseph R. Schwendeman, Clark PhD, 1941 (1944 to 1967)
#
Harry K. Hutter, Clark MA, 1930 (1946? to 1948)
#
Richard L. Tuthill, Columbia EdD, (1946 to 1953)
[https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/mainetoday-centralmaine/name/richard-tuthill-obituary?id=22632707]
#
Guy N. Parmenter, Clark MA, 1947 (1947 to 1948)
#
Thomas P. Field, UNC-Chapel Hill PhD, 1948 (1948 to ?)
#
Daniel Jacobson, LSU PhD, (1952 to ?)
#
James A. Shear, Clark PhD, 1952 (1952 to 1961?)
#
William A. Withington, Northwestern PhD, 1955 (1955 to 1989)
#
P.P. Karan, Indiana PhD, 1956 (1956 to 2017)
#
Forrest McElhoe, Ohio State PhD
#
Dietrich Zimmer
Dietrich () is an ancient German name meaning "ruler of the people", but also "keeper of the keys" or "lockpick" (either the tool or the profession).
Given name
* Dietrich, Count of Oldenburg (c. 1398–1440)
* Thierry of Alsace (; 1099–1168), ...
, Heidelberg PhD
#
Donald Blome
Donald Armin Blome is an American diplomat who is currently serving as the Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research since February, 2025. He previously served as the United States ambassador to Pakistan. He also served as ...
, Iowa PhD (? to 1970)
#
Paul Cooper, Georgia PhD
#
Melvin Albaum, Ohio State PhD, 1969
#
Gary Fowler, Syracuse PhD
#
Roger M. McCoy, Kansas PhD, 1967
#
Philip Phillips, Minnesota PhD
#
Geoffrey Wall, Hull PhD, 1971
#
Karl Raitz, Minnesota PhD, 1970 (1970 to 2014)
#
Richard C. Jones, Ohio State PhD, 1973 (1973 to 1975)
#
Ronald Garst, Michigan State PhD
#
Wilford Bladen, Kentucky PhD, 1972 (1973 to ?)
#
Richard Ulack, Penn State PhD, 1972 (1974 to 2007)
#
Richard I. Towber, Washington PhD, 1974
#
Allan Fitzsimmons, UCLA PhD
#
Thomas R. Leinbach, Penn State PhD, 1971 (1977 to 2009)
#
Gary Shannon, Michigan PhD, (1977 to 2020)
#
Robert Cromley, Ohio State PhD, 1978 (1978 to 1983)
#
Macel M. Wheeler?, Kentucky PhD, 1978
#
Justin Friberg, Syracuse PhD
#
Henry W. Bullamore, Iowa PhD, 1978 (1978 to 1980)
#
Jim Hufferd, Minnesota PhD, 1979
#
Stan Brunn, Ohio State PhD, 1966 (1980 to 2015)
#
Percy Dougherty, Boston PhD, 1980
#
George F. Hepner, Arizona State PhD, 1979 (1982 to 1983)
#
Susan Macey, Illinois PhD, 1982 (1982 to 1983)
#
Susan Trussler-Black, Penn State PhD
#
Jacqueline Pryce-Harvey, Tennessee PhD
#
Lizbeth Pyle, Minnesota PhD, 1983 (1983 to ?)
#
Carl Amrhein, SUNY-Buffalo PhD, 1984
#
Graham Rowles, Clark PhD, 1976 (1985 to present)
#
John Paul Jones III
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second ...
, Ohio State PhD, 1984 (1986 to 2003)
#
John F. Watkins, Colorado PhD, 1986 (1986 to present)
#
Gyula Pauer Gyula may refer to:
* Gyula (title), Hungarian leader title in the 9th–10th centuries
* Gyula (name), Hungarian male given name, derived from the title
; People
* Gyula II, the Hungarian ''gyula'' who ruled Transylvania in the 10th-century and ...
, Kentucky PhD, (? to 1997)
#
John Pickles
John Pickles (1952-) currently serves as the Phillips Distinguished Professor of International Studies in the Department of Geography at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Pickles attended the University of Oxford, where he obtaine ...
, Penn State PhD, 1983 (1990 to 2001)
#
Michael Kennedy, Louisville MS, 1978 (1991 to 2011)
#
Susan Roberts, Syracuse PhD, 1992 (1991 to present)
#
Richard Schein, Syracuse PhD, 1989 (1993 to present)
#
Heidi Nast, McGill PhD, 1992 (1994 to 1995)
#
Haripriya Rangan, UCLA PhD, 1993 (1995 to 1997)
#
Wolfgang Natter, Johns Hopkins PhD, 1990 (1998 to 2005)
#
Francis Harvey, Washington PhD, 1996 (1998 to 2001)
#
Linda C. Roth, Clark PhD, 1997
#
Paola Bachetta, Sorbonne PhD, 1996 (1999 to 2000)
#
Hilary Lambert Hopper, Clark PhD, 1984
#
Jonathan Phillips, Rutgers PhD, 1985 (2000 to 2020)
#
Anna Secor, Colorado PhD, 2000 (2000 to 2019)
#
Adrian Smith Adrian Smith may refer to:
* Adrian Smith (basketball) (born 1936), American basketball player
*Adrian Smith (architect) (born 1944), American architect
*Sir Adrian Smith (statistician) (born 1946), English statistician and academic
*Adrian Smith (m ...
, Sussex PhD, 1996 (2000 to ?)
#
Lynn Phillips, Louisville PhD, 2013 (2001 to present)
#
Alice Turkington, Queens-Belfast PhD, 2001 (2001 to present)
#
Matthew Zook, Berkeley PhD, 2001 (2001 to present)
#
Sean Campbell, Arkansas PhD, (2002 to ?)
#
Michael Crutcher, LSU PhD, 2001? (2003 to 2011)
#
Tad Mutersbaugh, Berkeley PhD, (2003 to present)
#
Patricia Ehrkamp, Minnesota PhD, 2002 (2006 to present)
#
Morgan Robertson
Morgan Andrew Robertson (September 30, 1861 - March 24, 1915) was an American author of short stories and novels, and the self-proclaimed inventor of the periscope.
Early life
Robertson was the son of Andrew Robertson, a ship captain on the Grea ...
, UW-Madison PhD, 2004 (2006 to 2013)
#
Michael Samers, Oxford PhD, 1997 (2006 to present)
#
Marshall Wilkinson, Macquarie PhD, (2006 to 2010)
#
Andrew Wood, Ohio State PhD, 1993 (2006 to present)
#
Rosemary Sherriff, Colorado PhD, 2004 (2008 to 2010)
#
Daehyun Kim, Texas A&M PhD, 2009 (2009 to 2017)
#
Sandra Zupan, UW-Milwaukee PhD, 2010 (2010 to 2013)
#
Jeremy Crampton, Penn State PhD, 1994 (2011 to 2018)
#
Liang Liang
Liang may refer to:
Chinese history
* Liang (state) (梁) (8th century BC – 641 BC), a Spring and Autumn period state
* Wei (state) (403–225 BC), a Warring States period state, also known as Liang (梁) after moving its capital to Daliang
...
, UW-Milwaukee PhD, 2009 (2011 to present)
#
J. Anthony Stallins, Georgia PhD, 2000 (2011 to present)
#
Matthew W. Wilson
Matthew may refer to:
* Matthew (given name)
* Matthew (surname)
* Matthew (album), ''Matthew'' (album), a 2000 album by rapper Kool Keith
* Matthew (elm cultivar), a cultivar of the Chinese Elm ''Ulmus parvifolia''
Christianity
* Matthew the ...
, Washington PhD, 2009 (2011 to present)
#
Betsy Beymer-Farris, Illinois PhD, 2011 (2014 to 2024)
#
Carolyn Finney, Clark PhD, (2015 to 2018)
#
Ted Schatzki, Berkeley PhD, 1986 (2018 to present)
#
Jack Gieseking, CUNY PhD, 2013 (2018 to 2022)
#
Nick Lally, Wisconsin PhD, 2018 (2018 to present)
#
Nari Senanayake, Penn State PhD, 2018 (2018 to present)
#
Priscilla McCutcheon, Georgia PhD, (2018 to present)
#
Boyd Shearer, Kentucky MA, 1998 (2018 to present)
#
Rich Donohue, Wisconsin PhD, 2014 (2014 to 2019 as postdoc, 2019 to 2024)
#
Lydia Pelot-Hobbs, CUNY PhD, 2019 (2019 to present)
#
Katie Gillespie, Washington PhD, 2014 (2020 to 2022 as postdoc)
#
Clare Beer, UCLA PhD, 2022 (2023)
#
Abdul Aijaz, Indiana PhD, 2023 (2023 to 2024)
#
Sopheak Chann, Sydney PhD, 2017 (2024 to present)
#
Alicia Barceinas Cruz, Wisconsin PhD, 2024 (2024 to present)
References
External links
*
{{Geography topics
Geography education in the United States
University of Kentucky