Department of Geography and Planning

Education

PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison 

Research Interests

• Nationalism and Geopolitics
• Peacebuilding and Social Justice
• International Forced Migration
• Conflict and Reconcilitation in Ireland
• Geopolitics of Religion
• European Environmental Politics
• Politics of Place and Political Landscapes
• Human Geography (Cultural, Political, Historical, and Urban)

Courses Taught

• GHY 5130: Human Geography Seminar
• GHY 3230: Political Geography
• GHY 1040: Human Geography and Social Justice
• GHY 3017: Mediterranean Empires and Globalization
• GHY 3011: Europe Past and Present
• GHY 1020: Exploring People and Places Globally

Research Profile

Dr. Dempsey is a political and cultural geographer with interests in nationalism, sectarian conflicts and reconciliation, international forced migration, spatiality and politics of religion, as well as landscape policies and environmental change in Europe. Dr. Dempsey’s current work examines the geopolitics of international forced migration and asylum policies in Europe since 2015. She is also studying conflict and peacebuilding in Ireland as well as Brexit proceedings in Ireland and the UK.

• President Emeritus of the Political Geography Specialty Group, American Association of Geographers - www.politicalgeography.org
• President Emeritus of the European Specialty Group, American Association of Geographers
• Awarded the 2022 American Conference (ACIS) Irish Studies Donnelly Prize for History and Social Science Book, Honorable Mention, for An Introduction to the Geopolitics of Ireland: Conflict, Nationalism, and Reconciliation (2022)
• Virginie Mamadouh Outstanding Research Award, Political Geography Specialty Group for Spaces of Violence: A Typology of the Political Geography of Violence Against Migrants Seeking Asylum in the EU
• 2021 Political Geography Early Career Researcher Paper Award for Spaces of Violence: A Typology of the Political Geography of Violence Against Migrants Seeking Asylum in the EU (PDF)
• Dr. Kara Dempsey authors new book exploring geopolitics in Ireland 
• Inducted into the Appalachian State University’s (CAS) Academy of Outstanding Teachers in 2021
• TEACHER OF THE YEAR AWARD 2022-2021, (CAS) Appalachian State University
• UNC BOARD OF GOVERNORS Appalachian State University School/Department Excellence in Teaching Award 2023

Books

An Introduction to the Geopolitics of Conflict, Nationalism, and Reconciliation in Ireland. © 2022 Routledge (Details)

Dempsey, K.E. and Myadar, O., Making and Unmaking Refugees. © 2023 Routledge. (Details). 

Flint, C., and Dempsey, K.E., Making Geographies of Peace and Conflict. © 2023 Routledge. (Details). 

Peer-Reviewed Publications

DeBoom, M., Dahlman, C., Dowler, L., Holland, E., Murphy, A. and Dempsey, K.E. (2023). “Reading Kara E. Dempsey’s An Introduction to the Geopolitics of Conflict, Nationalism, and Reconciliation in Ireland.” Political Geography (102999). doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2023.102999 (PDF).

Dempsey, Kara E. (2023). "Infrasecular" geographies and the multifaceted significance of a European shrine cathedral," Journal of Cultural Geography RJCG. DOI: 10.1080/08873631.2023.2194841(link).

Dempsey, Kara E. (2022). “Concealed Productions of Structural Violence: A Cultural Flagship in Post-Authoritarian Spain,” Social and Cultural Geography. (PDF).

Dempsey, Kara E. (2021). "Migrant Agency and Counter-Hegemonic Efforts Among Asylum Seekers in the Netherlands in Response to Geopolitical Control and Exclusion," Geopolitics.  (PDF)

Myadar, Orhon, & Dempsey, Kara E. (2021). "Making and Unmaking Refugees: Geopolitics of Social Ordering and Struggle within the Global Refugee Regime," Geopolitics. (PDF)

Dempsey, Kara E. (2020). “Spaces of Violence: A Typology of the Political Geography of Violence Against Migrants Seeking Asylum in the EU," Political Geography, 17: 102157. (PDF)

Dempsey, Kara E. (2020). “Fostering Grassroots Civic Nationalism in an Ethno-Nationally Divided Community in Northern Ireland,” Geopolitics. DOI: 10.1080/14650045.2020.1727449. (PDF)

Dempsey, Kara E. and McDowell, S. (2018). “Disaster Depictions and Geopolitical Representations in Europe’s ‘Migration Crisis’,” Geoforum, 98: 153-160. DOI: 10.1016/j.geoforum.2018.11.008. (PDF)

Dempsey, Kara E. (2018). “Negotiated Positionalities and Ethical Considerations of Fieldwork on Migration: Interviewing the Interviewer,” ACME: An International Journal for Critical Geographies, 17(1): 88-108. (PDF)

Andersen, L.M., Bonevac, A.N., Thompson, L.K., Dempsey, K.E., Shay, E.D., and Sugg, M.M. (2019). "Understanding Key-Informant Experiences and Perceptions of the 2016 Drought and Wildfires in Western North Carolina," Weather, Climate, and Society, 11(1): 229-241. DOI: 10.1175/WCAS-D-18-0061.1. (PDF)

Dempsey, Kara E., Qureshi, M., Ondoma, S., and Dempsey, R., (2017). “Effect of Geopolitical Forces on Neurosurgical Training in Sub-Saharan Africa,” World Neurosurgery, Feb 6. DOI: 10.1016/j.wneu.2017.01.104. (PDF)

Dempsey, Kara E. (2016). “Competing Claims & Nationalist Narratives: A City/State Debate in a Globalizing World,” Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, 107(1): 33-47. DOI: 10.1111/tesg.12127. (PDF)

Dempsey, Kara E. and Wilbrand, S., (2016). “The Role of the Region in the European Landscape Convention,” Regional Studies, 51(6): 909-919. DOI: 10.1080/00343404.2016.1144923. (PDF)

Dempsey, Kara, E. (2012). “‘Galicia’s Hurricane’ Actor Networks and Iconic Constructions,” Geographical Review, 102(1): 93-102. DOI: 10.1111/j.1931-0846.2012.00132.x. (PDF)

Chapters in Edited Volumes

Dempsey, Kara, E. (2024). "Geographies of Violence," in The Encyclopedia of Human Geography. Springer, pp. 1-5. (PDF)

Dempsey, Kara, E. and Foote, Ken. (2024). "Constructive Politics of Political Geography: From Specialty Group to “Community of Practice”," in Political Geography in Practice. Springer, pp. 253-265. (PDF)

Myadar, Orhon and Dempsey, Kara, E. (2023). “Introduction," in Making and Unmaking Refugees. Routledge, pp. 1-8. (PDF)

Dempsey, Kara, E. (2023). “Migrant Agency and Counter-Hegemonic Efforts Among Asylum Seekers in the Netherlands in Response to Geopolitical Control and Exclusion," in Making and Unmaking Refugees. Routledge, pp. 36-57. (PDF)

Flint, Colin and Dempsey, Kara, E. (2023). “Introduction," in Making Geographies of Peace and Conflict. Routledge, pp. 1-11. (PDF)

Flint, Colin and Dempsey, Kara, E. (2023). “Forging shared spaces for building peace," in Making Geographies of Peace and Conflict. Routledge, pp. 90-105. (PDF)

Dempsey, Kara, E. (2018). “Creating a Place for the Nation in Dublin: The Republic of Ireland’s Garden of Remembrance,” in (eds.) Hagen, Josh and Diener, Alexander. The City as Power: Urban Space, Place, and National Identity. Rowman & Littlefield, pp. 27-40. (PDF)