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Dr.
Richard S.
Courtney
Kutztown
University
of Pennsylvania Department of Geography
...making
a world of difference
Biography
I am originally from Burbank,
California, a suburb of Los Angeles, in the San Fernando
Valley.
After I graduated from Burbank High School, I attended college at California
State University, Northridge where I earned a Bachelor of Arts
degree (cum laude) in Earth Science with a Minor in Geology.
The course
of study I pursued while at CSUN was very broad indeed. Earth
Science
offered me the opportunity to study widely in the physical sciences.
Upon
graduation in 1986, I decided to continue to study at CSUN and in an
area
that would allow me to study a wide variety of subjects, Geography.
I developed an interest in urban systems dynamics while in the Master's
program at CSUN. In 1989 I earned my Master's Degree (with
distinction)
in Geography. My 1989 Master's Thesis is titled, "Urban System
Development
Trends in the Upper Midwest: 1900-1980." In my thesis, I employ
multiple
quantitative techniques of analysis. My interest in urban systems
dynamics carried over to my Doctoral studies at The
Ohio State University. My 1993 dissertation is titled, "A
Spatio-temporo-hierarchical
Model of Urban System Population Dynamics: A Case Study of the Upper
Midwest."
In the dissertation I employ Casetti's Expansion Method to redefine a
rank-size
model into a 27 parameter equation capable of identifying spatial,
temporal,
and hierarchical dimensions of population redistribution that I use to
study the urban system of the Upper Midwest.
My current research interest
involves the
quantitative study of racial segregation. I have recently introduced a
new index of isolation, the Spatial Segregation Index or SSI.
I have used the measure to demonstrate racial segregation
within the
United States, the state of Pennsylvania, and locally. An article
based on this research, "Trends in Racial Segregation in the
Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania: 1980-1990," was published in the Fall 1998 issue of The
Pennsylvania Geographer. I also presented a poster depicting
patterns of what I call "Extraordinary Segregation" in the Reading,
West
Reading, and Wyomissing area at the Fall 1999 meeting of the Delaware
Valley
Geographical Association. Most recently I coauthored with T.
Victor Mesev of Florida State University a book chapter titled
"Measuring and Mapping Conflict-Related Deaths and Segregation: Lessons
From the Belfast 'Troubles'" in the book Geospatial Technologies and Homeland
Security: Research Frontiers and Future Challenges.
I joined the Department of
Geography at Kutztown
University of PA in the fall of 1993. I currently
teach
Introductory Physical Geography, Urban Geography, and
Cartography.
I was promoted to the rank of Associate Professor effective Fall
2001. I have been elected Department Chair and officially took
office May 1, 2008.
Kutztown University is a member of the State
System of Higher Education
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