Thriving in an Academic Career: An International and Interdisciplinary Guide for Early Career Faculty

This book provides an invaluable guide on how to achieve a successful and fulfilling academic career. Academics must balance multiple roles and responsibilities, between teaching, research, and offering services to both the department, university, and broader community.

Michael Solem is a Professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at Texas State University. He has been principal investigator on several large-scale, federally funded projects supporting geography at all levels of education. Since 2002 Michael has contributed to the AAG’s annual Geography Faculty Development Alliance workshops for early career faculty. He has twice received the Journal of Geography in Higher Education’s award for promoting excellence in teaching and learning for his research on faculty development and graduate education in geography. Michael is the 2015 recipient of the AAG Gilbert Grosvenor Honors in Geographic Education.

Ken Foote is a Professor of Geography, Sustainability, Community and Urban Studies at the University of Connecticut. His research focuses on historic preservation, heritage tourism, and the commemorative landscapes of the U.S. and Europe, especially the way events of violence and tragedy are memorialized. His recent research has also focused on the spatial dimension of racialized and gendered violence in the U.S. In addition, Foote is also known for his work in geospatial technologies, especially geovisualization, as well as his efforts to improve professional development opportunities for early-career academics and department leaders. Foote is a past president and fellow of the American Association of Geographers (2010-11) and a past president of the U.S. National Council for Geographic Education (2006). He has received major national and international awards for his research, teaching, mentoring and service from the American Association of Geographers, National Council for Geographic Education, University Consortium for Geographic Information Science, and the Royal Geographical Society.

Shannon O’Lear, Professor of Geography at the University of Kansas, is a political geographer with interests in environmental geopolitics, critical geopolitics, the South Caucasus, and Science and Technology Studies (STS). Her recent work includes Environmental Geopolitics (2018), A Research Agenda for Environmental Geopolitics (2019, ), and A Research Agenda for Geographies of Slow Violence (2021). She co-authored a report for the National Science Foundation, Environmental Change and Human Security: Research Directions. She has served as the Councilor for the Great Plains Rocky Mountain Region of the American Association of Geographers (AAG). She holds a BA in Geography and Russian and a Master’s degree in Geography from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and a Ph.D. in Geography from Syracuse University.

LaToya E. Eaves is a geographer at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She has been instrumental in increasing the visibility of Black Geographies in addition to her research, which centers questions of race, Blackness, gender, sexuality, and place -- especially in terms of the U.S. South and Southeast. Recipient of numerous awards including the 2019 Ronald F. Abler Distinguished Service Honors for her transformative impact on the American Association of Geographers through her commitment to Black Geographies, she serves as PI on a half million dollar NSF grant for a collaborative project on Museums, Public Pedagogy, and Black Geographies in the United States. Her profoundly interdisciplinary contributions reflect her experiences, training and teaching across Africana Studies, Women’s and Gender Studies, and Geography departments.

Jongwon Lee serves as a professor in the Department of Social Studies Education at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, South Korea. Specializing in teacher education, his work focuses on the development of innovative design and instructional materials for technology-enhanced learning environments, particularly those involving geospatial technology. His approach emphasizes active learning and inquiry-based learning. Since 2016, Jongwon has also held the position of Secretary for the Commission on Geographical Education under the International Geographical Union, contributing to the field of geographical education on an international scale.