Karaagac, E. Alkim
Dr. Esra Alkim Karaagac
QROF Postdoctoral Fellow
Department of Geography and Planning
I am a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Geography and Planning. In my postdoctoral research, I study International Student Indebtedness in Canada. In this project, I examine the role of private lending practices in Canada’s international higher education system, focusing on the socio-economic impacts of predatory lending on international student experiences in university towns. This research is funded through Queen's University's QROF Postdoctoral Fellowship (Supervisor: Dr. Dan Cohen). Please contact me if you want to learn more about the project or get involved.
I am also an Adjunct Assistant Professor in Geography at the University of Waterloo. I run a research project, titled: Making a Home in Off-Campus Housing: Bringing visibility to international student families through narratives of homespace. This two-year project is funded by an SSHRC Insight Development Grant (2022-24). The research aims to bring visibility to international student families through narratives of homespace and to examine social and cultural economies of homemaking in transience.
I completed my PhD in Geography at the University of Waterloo in 2022. In my PhD research: In Debt to the State, I examined the lived experiences and everyday negotiations of finance and debts in state-led mass housing projects in Istanbul, to understand how housing policies shape relations of homeownership, gendered labour, and household finance. Prior to my PhD, I had seven years of professional work experience within government and non-profit organizations in Turkey as well as international settings, through professional fellowships (American Councils PFP). I have worked in teams and coordinated research projects funded by the United Nations and the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey.
CREDENTIALS:
- PhD in Geography (University of Waterloo)
- Master of City Design and Social Science (London School of Economics and Political Science)
- BSc (Hons) City and Regional Planning (Middle East Technical University)
- BA (Hons) Sociology (Middle East Technical University)
LINKS:
RESEARCH INTERESTS:
I am a broadly trained human geographer with research and teaching interests across urban, economic, and feminist geographies. My research and teaching programme engages with everyday economic geographies of (1) financialization and indebtedness, (2) urban housing justice, home, and social reproduction, (3) educational mobilities, migrant workers and labour precarity. I take an ethnographic approach to geographical research that draws on multiple qualitative and quantitative methods, centring on people and their experiences of social and economic life in cities. My work is motivated by an interest in social justice through policy-relevant and interdisciplinary research. It is informed primarily by theories of feminist political economy and critical urban theory, as well as insights from labour geographies, postcolonial geographies, and geographies of finance and debt.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:
- Karaagac, E.A. (2023) Caring for Debt: Women’s Work in Istanbul’s Mass Housing Estates. In special issue: Feminist Explorations of Urban Futures. Linda Peake, Elsa Koleth, Grace Adeniyi-Ogunyankin, and Nasya Razavi (eds). Urban Geography, 44(9), 1931–1950. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02723638.2023.2226987
- Karaagac, E.A. (2022) Everyday Negotiations of Finance and Debts in State-led Mass Housing Estates for Low-income Households in Istanbul. In Housing in Turkey: Policy, Planning, Practice. Burcu Özdemir Sarı, Esma Aksoy Khurami, and Nil Uzun (eds). London: Routledge, 125–142. DOI:10.4324/9781003173670-10
- Worth, N., & Karaagac, E.A. (2021) Accounting for absences and ambiguities in the freelancing labour relation. Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, 113(1), 96-108. https://doi.org/10.1111/tesg.12491
- Karaagac, E.A. (2020) The financialization of everyday life: Caring for debts. Geography Compass, 14(11), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1111/gec3.12541
Glacier monitoring in Canada's North - Dr. Laura Thomson
Date
Friday November 18, 20221:30 pm - 2:30 pm
Location
Miller Hall, Room 102Abstract:
Understanding global glacier change has required coordinated and collaborative effort from many national and international organizations. In this talk, I discuss Canada’s glacier monitoring efforts in the Arctic and examine where we’ve been, and where we’re going. Topics include glacier mapping and inventory, surface mass balance observations, and investigations into ice dynamics and glacier-climate processes. I will also touch upon the meandering path that eventually led me to manage a glacier monitoring program in the Canadian Arctic, and the undergraduate and graduate opportunities that helped make it possible.
Bio:
I grew up enjoying the wonderful community of Williams Lake in the central interior of British Columbia before heading east to study in the Department of Earth Sciences at Western University as a Loran Scholar (’04). Here I received BSc and MSc degrees in Geophysics and Planetary Science, while also completing a one year research internship in glacier mapping at the University of Northern British Columbia. My PhD research at the University of Ottawa focused on the glaciers of Axel Heiberg Island, Nunavut, where I now maintain the long-term (>50 year) glacier monitoring program. I have been fortunate to hold fellowships with the Western Canada Cryospheric Network, with the European Space Agency’s Earth Observation Team, and to work as a visiting scientist at the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS) at the University of Zürich. I pursued Postdoctoral studies in Glaciology at Simon Fraser University under the mentorship from Dr. Gwenn Flowers, where we investigated the impact of changing ice temperatures on ice motion and the long-term stability of Arctic glaciers. I am thrilled to be part of the Queen’s Geography and Planning community and look forward to fostering new collaborations in the years to come.
Position Opportunity!
The Faculties of Arts and Science (FAS), Law, and the Smith School of Business at Queen’s University are partnering to invite applications from exceptional early-career scholars at the rank of Assistant/Associate/Professor with specialization in Responsible use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for a tenure-track/tenured faculty position. The successful candidate will submit an external nomination for a five-year term position as a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair, eligible for renewal once, to a maximum of two five-year terms as a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair.
Grad Days
Date
Thursday November 10, 202211:30 am - 1:00 pm
Location
Mitchell Hall, Event CommonsCome and learn about Graduate Studies at Queen’s
As you are getting closer to the completion of your undergraduate degree, you may be wondering whether to start your professional career or to pursue graduate studies to further advance your academic and career objectives. At this important stage of your academic journey, the School of Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs and Faculty partners, wish to invite you to an event to think and learn about graduate studies as a potential next step. Please join us for pizza, a brief presentation on Why Graduate Studies at Queen’s, hear what current graduate students have to say about their experiences in graduate school and chat with staff.
Dr. Rachel Newrick - "Geophysics...the future is so bright, we have to wear shades"
Date
Wednesday October 19, 20221:30 pm - 2:30 pm
Location
Miller Hall, Room 102Description:
The world is facing many global challenges: poverty, insufficient clean water supply, hunger and a lack of energy security amongst others. To tackle them, the world needs critical thinkers, who are curious and inventive. Utilizing a variety of skills and technologies, geophysicists play a significant role in helping the world meet the 2030 UN sustainable development goals.
Geophysicists interrogate the subsurface to locate oil, gas, minerals, water, brine, subsurface reservoirs for carbon sequestration, and to improve our understanding of hazards, earthquakes etc.
The thought process that we use in exploration can be used as we look forward to the future, progressing oddities to leads and prospects.
The future is bright for geophysicists,
and for the world because geophysicists are helping address many global challenges.
Bio:
Dr. Rachel Newrick, P.Geoph., P.Geol., is an exploration geophysicist working and teaching internationally with a focus on seismic interpretation. She completed undergraduate degrees at VUW in New Zealand and a PhD in Exploration Seismology at the University of Calgary, Canada.
She is the co-author of the SEG Geophysical Monograph Series #13, Fundamentals of Geophysical Interpretation with Dr. Larry Lines, a contributor to two 52 Things… books, and has presented at a variety of technical conferences and luncheons. Rachel was the 2015-2016 President of the CSEG and 2021-2022 President of the Canadian Federation of Earth Sciences. Most importantly, she is inquisitive and likes to take on challenges
Fall 2022 Convocation
From October 11 to 14, 2022, Queen's students from all programs of study had the opportunity to celebrate Convocation with their family, friends, teachers, and fellow students. Ampai Thammachack, who earned a Master of Arts degree from the Department of Geography and Planning, spoke with CTV News Ottawa about the experience:
Kingston IN Focus
Drs. Carolyn DeLoyde and Betsy Donald are at the forefront of a collaborative project between Queen’s University, the City of Kingston, Kingston Economic Development, and the Kingston and Area Association of Museums, Art Galleries and Historic Sites. The Kingston IN Focus dashboard website explores municipal resiliency from a variety of perspectives related to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, drawing real-time data to provide meaningful insights into the community health of Kingston and the surrounding area.
SURP at the OPPI/OALA Conference
Approximately 40 faculty and graduate students from the School of Urban and Regional Planning attended the joint conference of the Ontario Professional Planners Institute (OPPI) and Ontario Association of Landscape Architects (OALA) in London, ON from September 21-22, 2022.
Congratulations, Yuan and Ampai!
Kudos to two students who successfully defended their theses in the month of September:
Ampai Thammachack successfully defended her M.A. thesis on September 15, 2022.
Title: Black student mental health: An analysis of accessibility of mental health resources at Queen’s University
Supervisor: Dr. Mark Rosenberg