Beth A. Mitchneck

Associate Professor, Geography & Regional Development and Associate Dean, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences

1990: Ph.D., Geography, Columbia University
1987: M.A., Columbia University
1983: B.A., Bryn Mawr College

Phone: (520) 621-1112 (Dean's office, Douglass building)
Fax: (520) 621-9424
E-mail: bethm@email.arizona.edu

Research

I conduct research mainly on urban, economic, and population issues in Russia and the Caucasus. Each of my research projects is collaborative and multidisciplinary. My research focuses on the intersection of societal change, state engagement, and human activities be it migration processes or the daily experience of large-scale societal change. I am currently working on an international, multidisciplinary project funded by the Human and Social Dynamics Program at the National Science Foundation with Joanna Regulska at Rutgers University and the Institute for Policy Studies in Tbilisi, Georgia. We are analyzing the ways that the governance environment interacts with the daily practices of forced migrant populations. The team is examining the following key questions: (1) In what ways do internally displaced persons and the general population construct social networks and implement livelihood strategies? 2) In what ways do those differ by gender, place, and dwelling type? 3) What are the similarities and differences between the composition of social networks of forced migrants and the general population? Other projects below amplify some aspect of my overall research agenda.

A second area of engagement for me is research on gender equity in the academy particularly as it relates to promoting the advancement of women in science. I direct the Center for Research on Equity and Opportunity that manages the University of Arizona’s NSF ADVANCE grant. We develop and manage a large number of activities to promote leadership opportunities for tenure-track faculty.

Project Involvement

• Forced Migrants Living in Post-Conflict Situations: Social Networks and Livelihood Strategies
• ADVANCE Project on Gender Equity in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics
• Post-collective Economic Lives and Livelihoods: Studies of Economy, Institution and Everyday Practice in Post-socialist Eurasia and Asia
• State and Society in Transition Societies

Recent Publications

• Mitchneck, B.A. 2007. Governance and Land Use Decision-Making in Russian Cities and Regions. Europe-Asia Studies 59(5).
• Mitchneck, B.A. 2005. Geography Matters: Discerning the Importance of Local Context. Slavic Review 64 (September).
• Engelmann, K., J.E. Bell, B.A. Mitchneck & R. Kaiser. 2003/4. Russia, Central Asia, and Eastern Europe. In Gaile, G. and C. Wilmott (eds.) Geography in America at the dawn of the 21st century. Oxford University Press. in press
• Mitchneck, B.A. 2001. The regional governance context in Russia: a general framework. Urban Geography 22 (4): 360-382.
• Mitchneck, B.A. 2001. Regional governance regimes in Russia: the cases of Yaroslavl and Udmurtia. in J. W. Hahn (ed.) Regional Russia in transition: studies from Yaroslavl. Washington, D.C.: Woodrow Wilson Center Press. pp169-194.