Sarah J. Halvorson
Associate Professor of Geography
Office: Old Journalism Building 211
Office Phone: (406) 243-2793
Office Fax: (406) 243-4840
E-mail: sarah.halvorson@umontana.edu
Education:
Ph.D., University of Colorado at Boulder, 2000
Geography
M.A., University of Colorado at Boulder, 1995
Geography
B.A., St. Olaf College, 1990
English with honors and Asian Studies Concentration
Areas of Specialization:
International Development
Water and Society
Gender Geography
Mountain Communities
Environmental Hazards
Central and South Asia and Africa
Qualitative Methods
Current Course Offerings:
GEOG 103S - Geography of World Regions
GEOG 335 - Water Policy
GEOG 435 - Environmental Hazards and Planning
GEOG 505 - Research Methods
Previous Course Offerings:
100-level - Introduction to Physical Geography
200-level - South Asia: Land and People
200-level - Peoples and Cultures of Central and Southwest Asia
400-level - Rural, Town and Regional Planning
400-level - Gender and International Development
500-level - Seminar in Planning
500-level - Seminar in Global Change
Professional Background Information:
Dr. Halvorson's teaching and research interests span several broad and diverse areas including: gender and social aspects of water resources and environmental hazards; medical and health geography; gender geography; international development in Central and South Asia and Africa; and water and landscape transformations in the Rocky Mountain West. From 1994 to 1998 she carried out ethnographic fieldwork in mountain communities in the Karakoram of northern Pakistan. This work culminated in a doctoral dissertation entitled, "Geographies of Children's Vulnerabilities: Households and Water-Related Disease Hazard in Northern Pakistan." Since 2000, she has carried out field studies in the Bitterroot Valley of Montana, Royal Kingdom of Bhutan, Thailand, Republic of Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey and Tajikistan.
Selected Recent and Ongoing Research Projects:
An examination of the relationship between gender, resources, and child survival in the context of livelihood transformation in the High Asia, including the Pamir and Hindu Kush-Karakoram-Himalaya (HKH);
· Research on community-based initiatives in the Bitterroot Valley, Western Montana to understand their roles in shaping the geography of response and recovery to the Fires of 2000;
· Collaboration with the Bitter Root Valley Historical Society on the "Bitter Root Valley Firestorms 2000 Oral History Project" (sponsored by the Montana Committee for the Humanities);
· Organization and implementation of the Montana International Gender and Community Service (MIGCS) Project with undergraduate and graduate students in geography and women's studies;
· Development of a Transboundary Planning Project focused on the Rocky Mountain Front (from Choteau, Montana to Crowsnest Pass, Alberta) in conjunction with geography and planning students and UMT's Environmental Studies Program.
· Numerous educational exchange and curriculum development projects in collaboration with The University of Montana's Central and Southwest Asian Studies Program, the Montana Geographic Alliance, and the Montana National Guard's State Partnership for Peace Program.
· Analysis of women's contributions in the areas of water management and disaster response and recovery in mountain communities of Central Asia
Selected Publications:
Selected Articles
Halvorson, S.J. and Jennifer Parker Hamilton. 2007. “Vulnerability and the Erosion of Seismic Culture in Mountainous Central Asia,” Special Issue on Coping with Human Vulnerability in Mountain Environments, Mountain Research and Development, 27(4):322-331. View article as PDF file.
Hamilton, Jennifer Parker and S.J. Halvorson. 2007. “The 2005 Kashmir Earthquake: A Perspective on Women’s Experiences,” Special Issue on Coping with Human Vulnerability in Mountain Environments, Mountain Research and Development, 27(4): 296-301. View article as PDF file.
Halvorson, S.J. 2004. "Women's Management of the Household Health Environment: Responding to Childhood Diarrheal Disease in the Northern Areas, Pakistan," Health and Place, 10: 43-58.
Halvorson, S.J. 2003. "Placing' Health Risks in the Karakoram: Local Perceptions of Disease, Dependency, and Social Change in Northern Pakistan," Mountain Research and Development, 23(3): 271-277.
Halvorson, S.J. 2003. "A Geography of Children's Vulnerability: Gender, Household Resources, and Water-Related Disease Hazard in Northern Pakistan," The Professional Geographer, 55(2):120-133.
Halvorson, S.J. 2002. "Environmental Health Risks and Gender in the Karakoram-Himalaya, Pakistan," The Geographical Review, 92 (2): 257-281.
Halvorson, S.J. and J.L. Wescoat, Jr. 2002. "Problem-Based Inquiry on World Water Problems in Large Undergraduate Classes," Journal of Geography, 101 (3): 91-102.
Wescoat, J.L; Halvorson, S.J.; Headington, L. and J. Replogle. 2002. “Water, Poverty, Equity, and Justice in Colorado: A Pragmatic Approach.” Justice and Natural Resources, edited by K. Mutz, G. Bryner, and D. Kenney. Washington: Island Press (pp. 57-85).
Book Chapters
Halvorson, S.J. 2006. “An Introduction to Water and Society in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.”Teaching about the Islamic World edited by Barry D. Mowell. Washington, DC: National Council of Geographic Education (pp. 85-91).
Halvorson, S.J. 2006. “Health Education: South Asia.” Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures Volume 3, edited by Suad Joseph. Leiden: The Netherlands: Brill Academic Publishers (pp. 143-147.)
Halvorson, S.J. 2005. "Growing up in Gilgit: An Exploration of Girls' Lifeworlds in Northern Pakistan." Geographies of Muslim Women: Gender, Religion, and Space, Caroline Nagel and Ghazi-Walid Falah (Eds.), pp. 19-44 (Guilford Press).
Wescoat, J.L; Halvorson, S.J.; Headington, L. and J. Replogle. 2002. “Water, Poverty, Equity, and Justice in Colorado: A Pragmatic Approach.” Justice and Natural Resources, edited by K. Mutz, G. Bryner, and D. Kenney. Washington: Island Press (pp. 57-85).
