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Robert Ross, Ph.D.

Professor, Social Justice Studies and Community Engagement

Pictured is Robert Ross. Photo by Madi Fisher.Contact Information

Education

  • Bachelor of Arts, Anthropology/Sociology, Summa Cum Laude, West Chester University of Pennsylvania
  • Master of Science, Geography, with distinction, University College London
  • Doctor of Philosophy, Geography, Syracuse University

Courses Taught

  • Foundations in Social Justice Studies
  • Intro to Human Geography
  • Economic Tools for Advocacy
  • Economic Geography
  • World Geography
  • Intro to Global Cultural Studies
  • Political Geography of the Middle East
  • Revolutions
  • Marx & Marxism
  • Theoretical Perspectives in Community Engagement


Background

Professor Robert Ross, Ph.D., is a geographer whose teaching and research interests center on the geographies of capitalism. His areas of expertise include the South African anti-apartheid movement, Israel/Palestine, urban geography, labor geography, and sports geography. Prior to teaching at Point Park, Ross served as a visiting assistant professor at the American University of Beirut and a part-time instructor at Syracuse University and West Chester University of Pennsylvania.

Selected Publications

ON THE SOUTH AFRICAN ANTI-APARTHEID MOVEMENT

ON ISRAEL/PALESTINE

ON URBAN GEOGRAPHY

  • Probola, E. and Ross, R. (2012) "Book Review: Forging a New Housing Policy: Opportunity in the Wake of Crisis. Edited by Christopher Niedt and Marc Silver. Human Geography. 5. 1. 106-108.
  • Ross, R. (2012) "Book Review: Company Towns in the Americas: Landscape, Power, and Working-Class Communities. Edited by Oliver Dinius and Angela Vergara." Journal of Historical Geography. 38. 104-105.
  • Ross, R. and Jamil, L. (2011) "Waiting for War (and other Strategies to Stop Gentrification): The Case of Ras Beirut." Human Geography. 4. 3. 14-32.
  • Ross, R. (2011)"New York City in the 1970s and Its Legacy." Association of American Geographers Newsletter. 46. 10. 9.
  • Ross, B. and Mitchell, D. (2004) "Commentary: Neoliberal Landscapes of Deception: Detroit, Ford Field, and the Ford Motor Company." Urban Geography. 25. 7. 685-690.

ON LABOR AND SPORTS GEOGRAPHY

  • Ross, R. (2022) “Lockouts, Strikeouts, and Baseball’s Missed Opportunity: Learning from the 1890 Players League.” The Nation. February 25. https://www.thenation.com/article/activism/players-league-baseball-america/
  • Ross, R. (2016) The Great Baseball Revolt: The Rise and Fall of the 1890 Players League. University of Nebraska Press.
  • Ross, R. (2011) "Scales and Skills of Monopoly Power: The Case of the 1890-1891 Chicago Carpenters' Strike." Antipode. 43. 4. 1281-1304.
  • Ross, R. (2011) "Book Review: Temples of the Earthbound Gods: Stadiums in the Cultural Landscapes of Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires. By Christopher Thomas Gaffney." The Geographical Review. 101. 1. January. 125-140.
  • Ross, R. (2010) "The Struggles over Chicago's Brotherhood Park." Area Chicago. No. 10. Summer/Fall. 14-15.
  • Ross, R. (2008) "Contradictions of Cultural Production and the Geographies that (Mostly) Resolve them: 19th-Century Baseball and the Rise of the 1890 Players' League." Environment and Planning D: Society and Space. 26. 6. 983-1000.

ON OTHER TOPICS

  • Ross, R. (2016) "The Limits of Revolutionary Geographic Thought." Antipode. Intervention Symposium - "Did We Accomplish the Revolution in Geographic Thought?" December. 1-8.
  • Ross, R. and Rosati, C. (2006) "Social Justice." In B. Warf (ed.) Encyclopedia of Human Geography. Thousand Oaks, Calif. Sage. 436-437.

Recent Presentations

  • "Reading Volume II of Karl Marx’s Capital.” Panelist and co-organizer. Annual meeting of the American Association of Geographers. February 2022.
  • "Constructive Disengagement: The ‘Banks Campaign’ and the Role of American Churches and Christian Institutions in the South African Anti-Apartheid Movement.” Faculty Symposium. Point Park University. April 2021.
  • “Engaged Learning in Geography: Pedagogy and Practice.” Panelist, Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers. Washington, DC. April 2019.
  • “Geographies and Theologies of Christian Solidarity.” Panelist and Organizer, Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers. New Orleans, La. April 2018.
  • “Author Meets Critics: The Great Baseball Revolt.” Panelist, Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers. Boston, Mass. April 2017.
  • "Did we Accomplish the Revolution in Geographic Thought?" Panelist, Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers. San Francisco, Calif. April 2016.
  • "Understanding and Resisting the Anti-BDS Movement in America: The Case of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)." Fragments of Empire after the American Century Conference, Center for American Studies and Research, American University of Beirut. January 2016.
  • "Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions Workshop." With Tory Smith. Friends of Sabeel North America Pittsburgh Conference. October 2015.
  • "Understanding the Opposition: The Anti-BDS Movement in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and Beyond." International Conference of Critical Geography. Ramallah, Palestine. July 2015.
  • "Academic Boycott Strategy Open Workshop." International Conference of Critical Geography. Ramallah, Palestine. July 2015.
  • "Critical Pedagogy in Geography: Teaching Israel/Palestine as Settler Colonialism." Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers. Chicago, Ill. April 2015.
  • "Robots, Gentrification, and Warfare: Deception and the Defense Industry, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Kabul, Afghanistan." Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers. New York, NY. February 2012.

Research Interests

  • Geographies of the Circulation of Capital
  • South African Anti-Apartheid Movement
  • Palestinian Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement
  • 19th Century Baseball
  • Gentrification

Professional Appointments and Affiliations

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