Part-Time Faculty Spotlight: Dave Doran, Geography

KENNESAW, Ga. (Dec 4, 2018) — Professor Dave Doran currently serves as part-time instructor of geography within the Department of Geography and Anthropology at Kennesaw State University (KSU) in conjunction with his role as adjunct professor of geography within the Department of History and Geography at Clemson University. Professor Doran has served in our department since January of 2010 in both the capacity of full-time lecturer and part-time instructor. He primarily teaches Human Geography and Geography of Europe at KSU yet has taught Historical Geography, Geography of North America, Geography of Sub–Saharan Africa, World Regional Geography, and Social Perspectives in Geography.

Professor Doran identifies himself as both an economic geographer and economic historian and has taught geography within the University System of Georgia for over twelve years. Professor Doran is also currently a PhD candidate in history at Georgia State University working on the completion of his dissertation, “To the Farthest Ports of the Rich East”: Salem’s Maritime Trade between the Massachusetts Bay and the South China Sea, 1785–1815. His research follows his proficiency in his major exam field of world history, specifically focusing on oceanic systems in regards to trade circuits, commodity chains, material culture, and cross-cultural encounters between Asia and the North Atlantic economy.

Professor Doran obtained his MA in geography from the Department of Anthropology & Geography at Georgia State University in May 2006 with the completion of his thesis, “Wharves to Waterfalls”: A Geographic Analysis of the Massachusetts Political Economy 1763–1825. He served two years as a lecturer for the Department of Geosciences at GSU and one year as a lecturer for the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies at Georgia College. Professor Doran has served as a table leader since 2015 for the College Board at the annual scorings of Advanced Placement Human Geography (APHG) exams each June and a reader for APHG since 2006.

Much of his interest as a geographer commenced following his BBA in international business from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and his corporate experience as regional sales manager for a Swiss corporation. Ten plus years of extensive travel in North America, the Caribbean, and Europe facilitated vast interest in geopolitics, cultural diversity, and the world economy. Flying on a plane on September 11, 2001 emphasized to him the change in world order and served as a catalyst for him to enter a new career in geographic education with a teaching focus on the concepts of diversity amid globalization.