51ĀŅĀ×

Office Hours

By appointment

Education

Ph.D., Syracuse University, 1998

Research

• Globalization
• Economic geography
• Urban geography
• Asia

I joined 51ĀŅĀ× in 1999, and my research interest includes globalization, world-city politics, diasporic communities, and international labor migration. I am currently working on a research project examining the return migration of ethnic Koreans from Northeast China to South Korea. I have been awarded two National Geographic research grants to examine how this return migration has reshaped ethnic Koreansā€™ diaspora identity and relations with both the homeland and the host country.

Another ongoing research project is looking at spatial exclusion and access of Southeast Asian migrant workers to urban public places in Seoul. I have conducted a series of personal interviews with Filipino factory workers to hear about their spatial stories of exclusion and belonging in Seoul, a newly emerging migrant destination in East Asia where the importance of ā€œactually existingā€ cosmopolitanism is yet to be recognized in urban planning and design.

I also conduct research on local economic development efforts in Cleveland and other major industrial cities of Ohio to see how traditional manufacturing towns attempt to reverse the decades-long trend of decentralization and deindustrialization by attracting new businesses and residents. The Global Cleveland Initiative, for example, looks to attract immigrants to make up for its ongoing population loss and to revive its declining inner-city economy.

Courses Taught

• GEOG 1310: Globalization and the Developing World
• GEOG 3260/5260: Urban Geography
• GEOG 3290/5290: World Economic Geography
• GEOG 3380/5380: Geography of Asia
• GEOG 6290: Seminar in Economic Geography

Representative Publications

2013, ā€œGlobalization and the city,ā€ Lisa Benton-Short, ed., Cities of North America: Contemporary Challenges in U.S. and Canadian Cities, Rowman & Littlefield.

2009, ā€œSoutheast Asian migrant workers in South Korea,ā€ David I. Steinberg, ed., Koreaā€™s Changing Roles in Southeast Asia: Expanding Influence and Relations, Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, pp.205-226.

2008 ā€œKeeping the gateway shut: regulating global city-ness in Seoul,ā€ in Marie Price and Lisa Benton-Short, eds., Migrants to the Metropolis: The Rise of Immigrant Gateway Cities, Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, pp.322-344.

2008 Cities and Economies, London: Routledge. (with John Short)

2004 ā€œSeoul: complementing economic success with Games,ā€ in Josef Gugler, ed., World Cities Beyond the West: Globalization, Development, and Inequality, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp.59-81.

1999, Globalization and the City, London: Longman. (with John Short)

Selected Student Projects

Benjamin Y. Loh, 2013, ā€œMassively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) in Malaysia: The Global-Local Nexusā€ (M.A. in Asian Studies)

Joseph F. Witek, 2013, ā€œJohannesburg: Africaā€™s World City?ā€ (M.A. in Geography)

Marcelo M.A. Ramos, 2012, ā€œPolitics of Urban and Regional Competitiveness, Custo Brazil and the International Airport Tancredo Nevesā€ (M.A. in Latin American Studies)

Laurentina Domingas Barreto Soares, 2011, ā€œForeign Aid for State Building: A Comparative Study of Australian and Chinese Aid Programs in Timor-Lesteā€ (M.A. in International Development Studies)

Clinton Travis Kilgore, 2011, ā€œFamiliar Places in Global Spaces: Networking and Place-making of American English Teachers in Sanlitun, Beijingā€ (M.A. in Geography)

Aaron Malone, 2010, ā€œMiddletown No More? Globalization and the Declining Positionality of Muncie, Indianaā€ (M.A. in Geography)