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324 Walker Building
University Park PA 16802
E-mail Dr. Dowler.
Gender and Nationalism
My research on issues of gender and nationalism focus on the spatial construction of gender roles in a time of war. A previous project, largely based on interviews conducted in an Irish Catholic community in West Belfast, Northern Ireland examined how, in a period of armed conflict, both women and men are perceived as beings who exemplify gender-specific virtues. The relationship of gender and identity is in this case a paradoxical one-war usually a catalyst of change-can often become an agent of conservatism as regards gender identities. This conservatism can be seen in the wartime spatial relegation of women to the private/domestic realm. Currently I am exploring how images of women in the Gulf war as both combatants and as victims reinforces or dismantles our notions of the gendering of public and private space.
Political Tourism
My interest in tourism focuses on a relatively new phenomenon within that industry, political, tours, in which I examine why tourists want to go and experience conflict and civil strife? Political tours are being conducted in Cuba, Nicaragua, Northern Ireland South America and even Afghanistan, which commodity human suffering in an effort to depoltiicise it. I have conducted fieldwork on political tourism in Northern Ireland and Cuba and plan to expand this analysis to South Africa.
Civic Nationalism
Although an international perspective on issues of gender and nationalism is important I also feel it is critical to include a more local perspective in my work. For this reason I am examining civic nationalism in the United States. I initiated a project examining the role of female firefighters, focusing on the politics of women's service in predominantly masculine environments. Although this project was initiated in 2000 it has taken on new meaning after the events of 9/11. My most recent project how women, especially women firefighters were written out of the events of 9/11.. In the next couple of years I plan to expand this project into a national study, examining the roles of women in the fireservice nationally. It is my aim to render a more gendered and racially balanced depiction of the American hero.
"Wee Women No More: Gender, Resistance and the Post-Imprisonment Experience in Belfast" co-author, Peter Shirlow, University Of Ulster, under review British Journal of Criminology.
"The role of community involvement and number/type of visitors on tourism impacts: A controlled comparison of Annapurna, Nepal and Northwest Yunnan, China, G Nyaupane, D Morais and L.Dowler, in, Tourism Management, at Press.
"Host women perceptions of ethnic tourism impacts: A comparison between patriarchal Bai and matriarchal Mosuo." Morais, D. B., Yarnal, C., Dong, E., & Dowler, L (2005 Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 10(3).2005".
"Women on the Frontlines: Rethinking Narratives of Heroism post 9/11", GeoJournal, An International Journal of Human Geography and Environmental Science, 58 159-165, 2002.
2001: The College of EMS Faculty Mentoring Award
2001: The College of EMS Wilson Award for Outstanding Teaching
Geog 40 World Regional Geography
Geog 508 Interpreting the Cultural Landscape
Past Students:
Margaret Farrar, Ph.D 2000, Building the Body Politic: Subjectivity and Urban Space: Assistant Professor of Political Science Augustana College
Beth Zeleny, Ph.D 2000, Gendered Space in Afghan Refugee Camps, analyst, Central Intelligence Agency
Jeffrey Davis, Ph.D 2003, Producing Place and Indigenous Tourism Development: Re-Creating Bikini Atoll, Assistant Professor of Geography, University of Vermont
Risa Whitson, Ph.D. 2004, Reworking Place, Gender, and Power: Informal Work in Urban Argentina, Assistant Professor of Geography, Ohio University
Jennifer Fluri, Ph.D. 2005, Beyond the Burqa: The Spatial Politics of Afghanistan's Revolutionary Women, Assistant Professor of Geography, Dartmouth
Current Students:
Nicole Laliberte, M.S. candidate, Development and Identity
Marina Jordan-Viola, M.S. candidate, Genealogy and Gender