Anne E. Mosher

• 2024 Spring
  • GEO 600 Selected Topics - Urban Planning- Sustainablity
  • GEO 400 Selected Topics - Urban Planning-Sustainability
  • GEO 564 Urban Historical Geography
• 2023 Fall
  • GEO 603 Development of Geographic Thought
  • GEO 313 The United States
• 2022 Fall
  • MAX 302 Civic Engagement Research Seminar
• 2022 Spring
  • MAX 302 Civic Engagement Research Seminar

Dr. Anne E. Mosher is associate professor of geography and the environment at Syracuse University. A senior research fellow in the Maxwell School’s Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs, she is also a member of the inaugural class of New York Public Scholars for the New York Council for the Humanities (2015-17), a past board member to the Alden Street Foundation—a local 504(c)(3) non-profit organization that provides seed money for community-based projects in low-income neighborhoods—and volunteers at St. Lucy’s Food Pantry on Syracuse’s Near Westside.   

Mosher’s teaching and research interests focus on the history of urban planning and infrastructure (including the Erie Canal), engaged placemaking, crisis and disaster management, public memory as expressed via social media, and interdisciplinary theories of space and place. Having published in her discipline’s leading journals, Mosher’s 2004 book—"Capital’s Utopia" (Johns Hopkins University Press), is based on work that won the Association of American Geographers’ Nystrom Award for Best Ph.D. Dissertation research and chronicles the creation of Vandergrift, Pennsylvania, the first model industrial town planned by Frederick Law Olmsted’s landscape architectural firm. Currently, she is writing a book that sits at the intersection of mixed methods social science research and the digital humanities. It explores user-generated content about New York State found on three Web 2.0 internet platforms:  Trip Advisor, Ancestry, and Facebook. With a working title of "Low Bridge, Everybody Down: Social Media Geographies and the Reinvention of New York State and the Erie Canal," Mosher’s book suggests relevant “talking points” for fostering local civic engagement, possible sites for grassroots-driven economic and social development, and calls for geographers and historians to pay greater attention to the work of “citizen” and “DIY” lay scholars who are publishing their work for online audiences. 

Dr. Mosher is past editor of the journal Historical Geography, the founder of Histgeog: The Historical Geography Internet Discussion Group (now H-Histgeog on H-Net), and past book review editor for the Americas for Journal of Historical Geography. A holder of Ph.D. and Master of Science degrees in geography from the Pennsylvania State University, Mosher attended Lancaster University (U.K.) where she studied social (public) administration, comparative foreign policy, and urban political geography. She graduated magna cum laude from Macalester College with double majors in geography and international studies.   

Urban planning and geographies of infrastructure, crisis and disaster management, public scholarship and community engagement, digital humanities

Urban and regional infrastructure planning in the U.S. and EU: policies, politics, professional practices and their landscape and community implications; multi-scalar geographies of intergovernmental relations in the U.S. and EU, 1789 to the present; places down the urban hierarchy; critical geography of place commodification and heritage tourism; feminist cognitive mapping, critical cartography and the contestation of place memories; multi-scalar dynamics of industrial restructuring; geographical history and historical research methods in geography.

"Citizenship & Civic Engagement High Impact Experience Scholars Initiative", Sponsored by The John Ben Snow Foundation, Inc..

"The Haudenosaunee Influence on American Culture", Sponsored by CUSE Grants - Interdisciplinary Seminar Grant.

"Urban Archaeology and Cultural Heritage of the I-81 Corridor: Recovering Syracuse's the Past as We Plan for the Future", Sponsored by CUSE Grants - Innovative and Interdisciplinary Research Grant.

"The Haudenosaunee Great Law of Peace as a Pathway to Positive Campus Engagement", Sponsored by Campus Compact.

"Citizenship and Civic Engagement Experiences in the Syracuse Community", Sponsored by The John Ben Snow Foundation, Inc..

• Book
  • Mosher, A. E., Capital’s Utopia: Vandergrift, Pennsylvania, 1855-1916. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004.
• Journal Articles
  • Mosher, A. E., Winders, J. L., "COMMENTARY: Re-evaluating the Relationship between High School and College Geography Education." Research in Geographic Education, 2018.
  • Mosher, A. E., Wilkie, L. A., "Historical Archaeo-Geographies of Scaled Statehood: American Federalism and Material Practices of National Prohibition in California, 1917–1933." Archaeologies: Journal of the World Archaeological Congress, 2010.
  • Mosher, A. E., "Downtown Westmoreland’s Heritage: From the Age of McKinley to the Disney Age." Westmoreland History, Winter, 2008.
  • Mosher, A. E., Keim, B. and Franques, S., "Downtown Dynamics." Geographical Review, 1995.
  • Mosher, A. E., "Something Better than the Best': Industrial Restructuring, George McMurtry and the Creation of the Model Industrial Town of Vandergrift, Pennsylvania, 1883- 1901." Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 1995.
  • Mosher, A. E., Holdsworth, D. W., "The meaning of alley housing in industrial communities: Examples from late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century Pennsylvania." Journal of Historical Geography, 1992.
  • Mosher, A. E., "1988 Eastern Historical Geography Association Annual Meeting." Historical Geography, 1989.
• Book Chapters
  • Mosher, A. E., "Earle’s Dialectical Policy Regimes and the Erie Canal." In Heppen and Otterstrom. , 2009.
  • Mosher, A. E., "Earle’s Theory and Conception of the Geographical History of the United States." In Geography, History and the American Political Economy. Heppen, J., Otterstrom, S. M. (eds.) Lexington Books, 2009.
  • Mosher, A. E., Wheeler, M. M., "Riverboat Gaming as Urban Revitalization 'Lagniappe': The Case of Baton Rouge, Louisiana." In Casino Gambling in America: Origins, Patterns and Impacts. Meyer-Arendt, K. J., Hartman, R. (eds.) Cognizant Communication Corporation, 1998.
  • Lanegran, D., Mosher, A. E., "European Settlement of the Upper Mississippi River Valley: Cairo, Illinois to Lake Itasca, Minnesota--1540-1860." In Historical Lifestyles in the Upper Mississippi Valley. Wozniak, J. S. (ed.) University Press of America, 1983.
• Book Reviews
  • Mosher, A. E., Kelly, B. M., "Expanding the American Dream: Building and Rebuilding Levittown." Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design 23, 1996.
  • Mosher, A. E., Ford, L., "Cities and Buildings: Skyscrapers, Buildings and Suburbs." Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 1995.
  • Mosher, A. E., Edwards, J. and Wright, G., "The Politics of Design in French Colonial Urbanism." Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, 1994.
  • Mosher, A. E., Mahoney, T. R., "River Towns in the Great West: The Structure of Provincial Urbanization in the American Midwest, 1820-1870." Western Historical Quarterly, 1992.
  • Mosher, A. E., Jackson, K. T., "Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States." Environment and Behavior, 1987.
• Editorials
  • Mosher, A. E., "issues of accuracy and relevance in Historical Geography." Past Place: The Newsletter of the Historical Geography Specialty Group of the Association of American Geographers 13, 2005.
  • Carville, E., Mosher, A. E., "Foundations and Futures for Historical Geography." Historical Geography, 1993.
• Instructional Material
  • Mosher, A. E., Human Geography: An Introduction. The Pennsylvania State University, 1987.
• Magazine/Trade Publication
  • Mosher, A. E., Smith, S., "The Philly Suburbs Are Bigger Than Ever--Literally." Philadelphia Magazine, 2023.
• Newspaper Article
  • Mosher, A. E., "If Lincoln’s a metro area, then let’s study it that way." Journal-Star, 2014.
• Report
  • Albina, A., al, e., "Understanding Partnership and Collaboration within the CNY Nonprofit Ecosystem: A First-Cut Analysis." Mosher, A. E. (ed.) CNY Community Partner Organizations by the Maxwell Program in Citizenship and Civic Engagement Course MAX 302: Research Seminar in Civic Engagement, 2018.
• Technical Report
  • Mosher, A. E., Sanguiliano, A. J., Cadwell, K., Carr, D., Cutler, D. and Smith, D. T., "Defining a Strategy for Realizing Equitable Institutional Learning Goals through High Impact Practices at Syracuse University." American Association of Colleges and Universities Summer Institute on High Impact Practices and Equity, 2019.
• Website
  • Mosher, A. E., What is Geography? A Prezi. , 2014.
• White Paper
  • Mosher, A. E., Graham, M. E. and Sanguiliano, A. J., "Syracuse University Shared Competencies Initiative: A White Paper to Guide Discussion." Syracuse University, 2019.

Mosher, A. E., Backus, C., Bird, S., Mahapatra, K., Powers, S. E., Skufka, j. D., Annual Meeting of the American Association of Geographers, Symposium on Land Systems Science, "Sustainable Holistic Planning Systems (SHPS) and the Challenge of Varying Land Use Epistemologies, Spatialities, and Praxis" (March, 2023)

Mosher, A. E., Harrington, L., Sanguiliano, A. J., Assessment Network of New York, "Engaging Faculty in Assessment through Collaboration and Facilitation" (June, 2020)

Mosher, A. E., Graham, M., Sanguiliano, A. J., Assessment Network of New York, "Shared Governance + Shared Competencies = A Shared Vision for Student Success" (June, 2020)

Humphrey Fellows Orientation, Executive Education Program, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, "Models of Citizenship: Civic Education and Instructional Design" (2017 - August, 2019)

Mosher, A. E., Cadwell, K., Carr, D., Cutler, D., Sanguiliano, A. J., Smith, D. T., American Association of Colleges and Universities Summer Institute on High Impact Practices and Equity, "Defining a Strategy for Realizing Equitable Institutional Learning Goals through High Impact Practices at Syracuse University" (June, 2019)

Mosher, A. E., Buck, B., Bird, S., Babus, E., Barber, P., Flory, M., Ulrich-Verderber, L., Heintzleman, M., Mahaptra, S., Powers, S. E., Skufka, J., Energy and Society in Transition: 2nd International Conference on Energy Research and Social Science, "LEED for Communities in the New York Olympic Region: Energy and Sustainability Planning Approaches for Multi-Jurisdictional, Rural, Tourist-Based Communities" (May, 2019)

Assessment Leadership Institute, Syracuse University, "Using Curriculum Maps as Engagement Devices for Conversations about Assessment" (May, 2019)

One University Celebration of Assessment Poster Session, Syracuse University, "Improving Learning Outcome Statements: Using Bloom's Revised Taxonomy as a Base Map" (April, 2019)

Mosher, A. E., Backus, E., Bird, S., Heintzleman, M., Mahaptra, S., Clarkson Ignite Fellowship Competition, "Best Practices for Implementation of Sustainable Holistic Planning Systems (SHPS) in the NY Olympic Region (NYOR)" (February, 2019)

Behrends, L., Cicotta, C., Heintz, P., Mosher, A. E., IARSLCE (International Association in Research on Service Learning and Community Engagement), "Community Engaged Learning Best Practices on ‘Global University’ Campuses: How Should We Get on the Same Page?" (2019)

Associate Professor, Syracuse University, 1998-
Assistant Professor, Syracuse University, 1995-1998
Assistant Professor, Louisiana State University, 1990-1995  

Award for Best Faculty Engagement Strategy for “Improving Learning Outcome Statements: Using Bloom's Revised Taxonomy as a Base Map.”, One University Celebration of Assessment, Syracuse University (2019)

Mentor of the Year, Syracuse University Center for Fellowship and Scholarship Advising (2019)

New York Public Scholar, Humanities New York (formerly the New York Council for the Humanities) (2015 - 2018)

Geography Education “30 Best Web Resources of 2014”, National Geographic’s Network of Alliances of Geography Education (2014)

Westmoreland Heritage and Westmoreland Library Network, selection of Capital’s Utopia, One Community adult summer reading program (2011)