Karen Culcasi, 
Ph.D. Candidate
klculcas@maxwell.syr.edu

M.A., Syracuse University, 2003
B.A., University of Vermont, 1998

Biography
I am a PhD student of Geography at Syracuse University.  I received a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Geography from the University of Vermont in 1998, and worked professionally in Boston for two years before returning to school to pursue my long-term goals to study geography.  I completed my Master’s degree at Syracuse in 2003 and am now working towards my PhD. 

Research interests:
My research broadly includes critical geopolitical examinations of contested nations and identities through a cartographic lens.  My dissertation research examines the discursive role of maps in constructing, elucidating, and muddling geographic knowledge, geopolitical disputes, and political discourse in the Middle East.  More specifically, I have been comparing the use and manipulation of maps by the imperial powers in the early 20^th century with Egyptian cartography, attempting to locate differences in perceptions of the tenuously defined "Middle East."