Department of Geography, UW–Madison logo Department of Geography, UW–Madison logo
logo piece

printer friendly version

Refresh Style Sheet

Leila M. Harris

Professional Background

Affiliations

Current Research and Interests

Awards and Honors

Research Areas

Selected Publications

Current Projects

Collaborative Project on Environment, Security, and Well-being.

Among other projects, I am part of a research group at UW-Madison focused on Environmental Change, Security, and Well-Being. As part of this effort, we are organizing seminars, speaker series, and conferences and have proposed several research and teaching initiatives on this theme.

In 2006 we were awarded a $3.4 million NSF Integrative Graduate Research and Training Grant to train graduate students interested in sustainability and the global environment. Students selected for this highly competitive fellowship will be awarded up to two years of graduate support, and will participate in a coordinated Certificate on Humans and the Global Environment (CHANGE). The training will involve training in biophysical and social sciences, and will include local, place-based, as well as global scale approaches to examine important environmental questions. Students working with me will be eligible to apply for support through this program. If you are interested, please read details here (http://www.sage.wisc.edu/IGERT/), and also feel free to contact me for more information. Please also note, even if you are not selected for the fellowship, all students are encouraged to apply to participate in the CHANGE certificate/training program. There are also additional funding opportunities for all students who participate in the certficiate program.

Evolving Sites and Scales of Environmental Governance

Since 2006, I have been conducting a comparative investigation of changing scales and sites of environmental governance, with focus on water management and institutions. Recent trends have emphasized devolved resource management to local communities, invoking notions of democracy and participatory management, as well as notions of economism, privatization, and commodification familiar in neoliberal discourse. The aim of the study is to consider varied implementation of these devolved/participatory/neoliberal management trends, as well as to critically evaluate international agreements and institutions that are promoting these shifts. Once a comparative baseline is established, I expect to pursue more detailed case study work on these trends to compare other sites with the work I have already conducted in Turkey.

Socio-spatial dimensions of Environmental Politics and Activism in Contemporary Turkey

Beginning in the summer of 2005, I began research on social and spatial articulations of environmental politics and activism in contemporary Turkey. This research project is still in process. Drawing on focus groups and interviews conducted at four sites (Istanbul, Ankara, Diyarbakir, and Sanliurfa), the research focuses on socio-spatial difference in relation to environmental discourse and activism in contemporary Turkey.

Developmental and Environmental Change in Southeastern Turkey

Ongoing research on this theme (building on earlier research initiated in 2001), considers questions of a) state theory and shifting political subjectivities in relation to developmental and environmental change associated with the Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP); b) narratives of environmental change and implications for sustainability studies; and c) issues of social difference, specifically gender and ethnicity, as impetus for, and effects of, state-led development in the Southeastern Anatolia region.

Future Planned Projects

Migration, Democratization, and Shifting Political Subjectivities

Working together with two other geographers, our aim is interrogate understudied relationships between migration, democratization and shifting political subjectivities. Using the case study of the common migration trajectory from Turkey to Germany, our multi-sited study will investigate the relationships between place, scale, and political activism/identity at four sites (two in Germany; two in Turkey). The sites straddle important divides with respect to notions of civil society and democratic development, so should be revealing in terms of shifting political identities as citizen-subjects move through these spaces, and back again. The work will highlight gender, environmental, and religious politics.

Courses Taught

For the 2008-2009 academic year, I am planning to teach a combined undergrad/graduate version of my Gender, Space, Environment seminar as well as Geog 319 in fall (International Dimensions of Environmental Justice). In Spring 2009, I will be teaching Geog 401/IES 400: Environment, Culture, Politics: N. America as well as the NIES 900 IGERT seminar. Please note the Geog 401/Geog 400 course has an optional service learning component for an additional two course credits.

Student Opportunities

I will be accepting one or two advisees for the 2008 academic year. If you are interested in working with me, please send along a copy of your CV, GPA, GRE scores, and short (1-2 paragraph) explanation of your interests and related experiences. Please also indicate other faculty you are interested in working with and those you have contacted. I would be happy to answer any specific questions you may have about my work or our graduate programs.

As noted above, students working with me are eligible to apply for funding as CHANGE scholars. Those accepted to this highly competitive program will receive up to two full years of graduate study support, including stipend and health care. Those not selected as CHANGE scholars will still be eligible to participate in this exciting training opportunity, please see the CHANGE IGERT webpage for details.

I am also involved with an effort to fund students studying environmental issues to travel to France to study at the University of Montpellier. Please click here for more information on this exchange opportunity.

I have also recevied funding to support one full-time reseach assistant for six months during the 2008-2009 academic year to work on my water governance research project. Please see the above description for more details on the focus of the research. Students interested in working with me on this project should also send me a short email, indicating interest. I will issue a formal call for applications during the spring 2008 semester.

Contact Information