Contact:

Associate Professor
Department of Geography
McGill University,
805 Sherbrooke Street West,
Montreal, QC H3A 2K6
Canada
Telephone: (514) 398 - 4953
Fax: (514) 849 - 7437

Prof. Benjamin Forest

I joined the Department of Geography at McGill University as an Associate Professor in 2006. I earned my masters and doctorate from UCLA, and my bachelors degree from the University of Chicago. Before coming to McGill, I was an Associate (2004-2006) and Assistant Professor (1998-2004) in the Department of Geography at Dartmouth College, and earlier taught in the sociology departments at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Northwestern University and DePaul University.

I study the geographical nature of identity and identifications, and I am especially concerned with the legal and political construction of race, ethnicity, and nationality. My current research examines the impact of GIS technologies on political representation, the use of monuments and memorials for (re)constructing post-Soviet national identities, and various issues of governance, including the management of natural resources.

I am on sabbatical for 2011-12 and will not teach any classes. I may also be slow to respond to email inquires.

In typical years, I teach one graduate course: GEOG 511: Advanced Political Geography (winter), and three undergraduate courses: GEOG 316: Political Geography (fall); a class co-taught with Prof. Natalie Oswin: GEOG 217: Cities in the Modern World (winter); and a class co-taught with Prof. Juliet Johnson: GEOG 424/POLI 432/PLAI 400: Memory, Place, and Power (fall). See the Department web site for more information on these classes.

The links on the left contain more detailed information about my research and teaching activities.

Professional Associations

Association of American Geographers

Canadian Association of Geographers / L’Association canadienne des géographes

American Political Science Association

Law and Society Association