Dr. Susan P. Mains

Lecturer

susan.mains@uwimona.edu.jm

Current Research

• Transnationalism, Diaspora, and Mobility:
  • Jamaican migration between London , New York , Toronto , Miami , and Kingston  
  • Community organizations and media representations of immigration
  • The production of a documentary film titled, “Ackee, Burgers, and Chips: An ABC of Jamaican Migration” and an accompanying book (in progress)
• Geographies of Development:
  • Postcolonialism, identities, and space
  • Public monuments and discourses of cultural heritage
  • The production of tourist spaces and tourism in Jamaica
• Critical Pedagogies:
  • The use of documentary film as a pedagogical and research tool
  • Fieldwork at the intersections between urban and cultural geography and cultural studies
  • Gender, Race, and Space
  • Representations of gender and place
  • Race and regional identities in mainstream media
  • Representing masculinity

Selected Publications

Articles in Refereed Publications:

• Mains, S. 2007. “Hurricanes in Toronto : Distance, Identity, and the Jamaican Diaspora,” Focus on Geography , 50(1): 1-8.
• Mains, S. 2004. “Monumentally Caribbean: Borders, Bodies, and Redemptive City Spaces,” Small Axe: A Caribbean Journal of Criticism , (16): 179-198.
• Mains, S. 2004. “ Teaching Transnationalism in the Caribbean : Toward an Understanding of Representation and Neo-Colonialism in Human Geography,” Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 28(2):315-330.
• Mains, S. 2004. “ Imagining the Border and Southern Spaces: Cinematic Explorations of Race and Gender ,” GeoJournal , 59(4):253-264.
• Mains, S. 2002. “ Representing National Identity, Borders, and Migration: Making News in Southern California ,” Hagar: International Social Science Review , (2): 271-298.  
• Mains, S. 2000. “ An Anatomy of Race and Immigration Politics in California ” Journal of Social and Cultural Geography , 1(2): 143-154.
• Mains, S. 1999. “Statutes of Liberty : Migration and Urbanism in the Borderlands,” Yearbook of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers , 61: 42-66.

Book Chapters:

• Mains, S. 2008. “Cultural Imperialism,” in R. Kitchin and N. Thrift (Eds.) International Encyclopedia of Human Geography . Oxford : Elsevier (in press). Mains, S. 2008. “Transnational Communities/Identities,” in E. L. Jackiewicz and F. Bosco (Eds.) Placing Latin America . Baton Rouge : Louisiana State University Press (in press).
• Mains, S. 2008. “‘English Fever': Documenting the Caribbean Diaspora in ‘The Colony',” in A. Escher, Anton, C. Lukinbeal and S. Zimmermann (Eds.) The Geography of Cinema–A Cinematic World . Stuttgart : Franz Steiner-Verlag (in press).
• Mains, S. and Clifford, C. 2006. “A Dialogue with Masculinity,” in A. Jones (Ed.) Men of the Global South: A Reader . New York : Zed Books, p.401-404.
• Mains, S. 2006. “Discourse,” in B. Warf, A.J. Cravey, D. DeLyser, L. Knopp, D. Sui, and D. Wilson (Eds.) Encyclopedia of Human Geography . New York : Sage, p.111-113.
• Mains, S. 2006. “Spatial Inequality,” in B. Warf, A.J. Cravey, D. DeLyser, L. Knopp, D. Sui, and D. Wilson (Eds.) Encyclopedia of Human Geography. New York : Sage, p.453-454.
• Mains, S., (with Oberhauser, A., Rubinoff, D., DeBres, K., Pope, C.) 2004. “Geographic Perspectives on Women: Geography and Gender,” in G. Gaile and C. Wilmott (Eds.) Geography in America at the Dawn of the 21 st Century , Oxford : Oxford University Press, p.738-760.
• Mains, S. 2003. “‘The Future of Multi-Ethnic Britain ': Media, Diversity, and Regional Identity,” In S. Ralph, H. Manchester, and C. Lees (Eds.) Diversity or Anarchy . Luton: University of Luton Press , p.225-232.  
• Mains, S. 2002. “Maintaining National Identity at the Border: Scale, Masculinity, and the Policing of Immigration in Southern California ,” in A. Herod and M. Wright (Eds.) Geographies of Power: Placing Scale . London : Blackwell, p.192-214.

Reports and Other Publications:

• Mains, S. 2004. “Cultural Geography in a New Millennium: Translation, Borders, and Resistance.” Journal of Cultural Geography , Fall/Winter 22(1):151-153.
• Mains, S. 2004. “Developing Film: Media and Geography Roundtable,” Place and Culture: Cultural Geography Specialty Group Newsletter , Spring.
• Mains, S. 2004. “Teaching Geography and Gender Discussion Forum,” Geographic Perspectives on Women Specialty Group of the AAG Newsletter , March.
• Mains, S. 2004. “Translating Film,” Baile 2004 , University College Dublin , Ireland , 52-56. Mains, S. 2002. “Mobility and Exclusion: Towards an Understanding of Migration in the Context of Jamaica,” UN WIDER conference report on Poverty, International Migration and Asylum , Helsinki , Finland .
• Mains, S., Curran, M., Metzo, C. and Moore, S. 2000. “An Interview with bell hooks” disClosure: A Journal of Social Theory, Manholes , 9: 45-57.  
• Mains, S. and Redlin, M. 1998. “An Interview with Jane Flax: (Re)Presenting Power” disClosure: A Journal of Social Theory, Colorings, 7:165-180. Mains, S. 1997. “Trendspotting: Breaking the Chains” disClosure: A Journal of Social Theory, reVisioning Justice, 6:3-6.  
• Mains, S. and Gilmartin, M. 1997. “An Interview with Alexander Cockburn: Judging the Jury” disClosure: A Journal of Social Theory, reVisioning Justice, 6:63-78.

Book Reviews:

• Bejel, E. Gay Cuban Nation . The University of Chicago Press: Chicago , 2001. Gender, Place and Culture 12 (3):267-269, 2005.
• Saldivar-Hull, S. Feminism on the Border: Chicana Gender Politics and Literature . University of California Press: London , 2000. Gender, Place and Culture 9 (3):307-309, 2002.  
• Velez-Ibanez, C. G. Border Visions: Mexican Cultures of the Southwest United States University of Arizona Press: Tucson , 1996. New Mexico Historical Review , Fall 1998.  
• Badran, M. Feminists, Islam and Nation: Gender and the Making of Modern Egypt Princeton University Press: Princeton , 1995. Gender, Place and Culture , 4 (1):126-128 1997.
• Pinkus, K. Bodily Practices: Italian Advertising Under Fascism University of Minnesota Press: Minneapolis , 1995. disClosure: A Journal of Social Theory 5:56-61, 1996.

Video:

• Mains, S. and Smith, L. (Co-Dir. and Co-Prod.) 1999. (Re)Inventing Hispanic/Latino Identities: A Visual Exploration . Lexington , KY (short documentary).

Courses

• GG10A/GEOG1101: Introduction to Human Geography
• GG21A: Urban Geography
• GG31G/GEOG3106: Geographies of Tourism
• GG31D/GEOG3204: Political Geography: Space and Globalization
• EM616: Research and Project Analysis for Environmental Management

Graduate Students

• Carlos Michel, “Culture Industries and Diaspora Tourism,” (2007-present),MPhil
• Vivienne Pitter, “Going Back to the Roots: Portland as a Cultural Tourism Destination,” (2007-present), PhD
• Soyini Ashby, “Postcolonial Identities and Caribbean Cinema,” (2005-present), MPhil Geography
• Mark Clifford, “Spaces of Human Rights in Jamaica,” (2004-present), MA Cultural Studies
• Sabita Maharaj, “West Indians in Canada: Melting into the Cultural Mosaic?” (2005-present), MA Communication Studies (Co-Adviser)
• Agostinho Pinnock, “’Alternative Communication’ in Jamaican Popular Culture” (2005-present), MA Communication Studies (Co-Adviser)
• Elaine McFarlane, “Residents’ Perceptions of Garden Spaces in Greenwood, St. James” (2004-2005), MSc Environmental Management
• Linford Beckles, “Social and Environmental Impacts of Sand Mining in the Yallahs River Basin” (2003-04), MSc Environmental Management
• Clarence Parkes, “Social and Environmental Impacts of Sand Mining in the Rio Minho Valley” (2003-04), MSc Environmental Management