New Faculty
Dr. Josh Lepawsky
Department of Geography
Dr. Josh Lepawsky, who joined the Geography Department this month, considers himself a cultural and political geographer. The B.C. native's doctoral research at the University of Kentucky involved fieldwork in Malaysia, where he explored a huge urban development, modeled on Silicon Valley, that represents that state's desire to redefine its culture and its citizens.
"This is a very explicit attempt to create a model to suit the government's version of their modern state.?
He notes that similar, though less explicit maneuvers to redefine locations for economic development are happening in Canada. "It's increasingly a way that cities are rebranding themselves by trying to attract specific economic sectors."
His interest in how culture and geography can be utilized to spark growth makes St. John's an intriguing base for his work. He points to the Nearshore Atlantic project, a government-sponsored initiative to establish the province as a centre for information and communications technology.
"It banks on the idea of using culture and strategic location as a way to bolster business," he explained. "The location and time zone can be promoted as a way to bridge the distance between Europe and North America. Culturally, there's an emphasis on the European descent of most people who live here, which is interesting in a country that defines itself as multicultural."
Another area of interest Dr. Lepawsky plans to pursue is Canada's role in the traffic of electronic waste.
"There's a huge international trade in the junk of the information age, which is then broken down by people usually marginalized groups in south China, India, Bangladesh and other developing places. Some components are considered hazardous waste."
The traffic in old electronics continues, despite a UN convention prohibiting the export of hazardous materials.
He plans to look at the effectiveness of new regulations in some provinces that mandate the recycling of electronic components, as well as the larger question of how electronics move from valued to garbage.