Chris Willer
Biography
I am a doctoral candidate in the Department of Geography. I arrived in Kent in the Fall of 2014 after I completed my B.A. in History at SUNY Geneseo to pursue my M.A. in Geography at Kent (2016).
I consider myself a broadly trained geographer with a wide-range of interests. However, my current work lies primarily within urban geography, GIS, and community planning. More specifically, my dissertation, loosely titled A 'Place' on Main Street: the Geography of Place Marketing, Branding, and Promotion in downtown, examines the geography of the National Main Street Program and how its local programs market and brand small-city downtowns.
Teaching includes: Geography of U.S. & Canada, Cities & Urbanization, World Geography, and Physical Geography Lab
Master's thesis: “It Takes a Village”: Urban Change in the Elmwood Neighborhood, 1990-2016
Education
B.A. History, State University of New York, College at Geneseo (2014)
Publications
- Mapes, J., Kaplan, D., Turner, V. K., & Willer, C. (2017). Building ‘College Town’: Economic redevelopment and the construction of community. Local Economy, 32(7), 601-616.
Affiliations
- American Association of Geographers
- Phi Alpha Theta (History Honorary)
Awards/Achievements
- 2017 - Kent State GSA International Travel Award ($1,300)
- 2017 - NASA-Ohio Space Grant Consortium ($150)