Faculty Profile
Dr. Ranu Basu
Associate Professor/Undergraduate Program Director
Education
Ph.D (Geography) University of Toronto, 2002
MA (Geography), University of Toronto, 1997
BA (Geography), University of Toronto at Scarborough, 1995
BA Hons (Geography), Elphinstone College, University of Bombay, 1986
Office: Ross Building N403
Phone: (416) 736-5107, ext 22436
Fax: (416) 736-5988
Email: ranubasu@yorku.ca
Courses:
AP/GEOG 3120 Urban Geography
AP/GEOG 31890 Introduction to GIS
AP/GEOG 4380 Urban Social Policy
AP/GEOG 4700 Critical Geographies of Education
GS/GEOG 5370 Urban Social Geography
Research Interests
Urban social and political geography and planning, Rationality and power in public service provision, Theories of collective action and community organization, Neoliberalization of public education in Ontario, Critical geographies of education, Diversity and public space - immigrant and refugee communities, Urban demography and neighbourhood geographies, Critical Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
Current Research Projects
Integrative Multiplicity through Suburban Realities: Exploring diversity through public spaces in Scarborough. Funded by CERIS The Ontario Metropolis Centre, 2011-12.
Demographic Data and Student Equity Project. Knowledge Network for Applied Education Research (KNAER) Grant - University and School Board Partnership with PI Prof. Carl James,York Centre for Education and Community (YCEC), Toronto District School Board (TDSB), Peel District School Board (PDSB), Ottawa-Carleton District School Board OCDSB), York Region District School Board (YDSB)) 2011-12.
Mapping the Politics of Education Reform in Ontario: Examining Public Elementary Schools in Transition (1993-2005). Funded by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council, 2005-08.
Maintaining ‘Spaces of Integration’ in an Era of Devolution: Exploring the Geographies of Language and Education Policy in Toronto’s Elementary Schools. Funded by Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration and Settlement, 2005-06
Social Sustainability, Diversity and Public Space in Three Canadian Cities (with Barbara Rahder (PI), Liette Gilbert, Susan McGrath and Patricia Wood) funded by Social Science and Humanities Research Council, 2006-09
Infrastructure in York Region: A GIS Analysis of Human Services (with Lucia Lo (PI), Valerie Preston, Paul Anisef and Shuguang Wang) funded by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Strategic Programs and Infrastructure Canada Joint Initiatives, 2006-08
A Canadian Refugee Research Network: Globalizing Knowledge. (Collaborator, PI: Susan McGrath) SSHRC Cluster proposal, 2008-2015.
Publications
Basu, R. (forthcoming, 2012) In Search of
Nimmathi for Social Sustainability? Imagining, Building and Negotiating Spaces of Peace in Toronto’s Diverse Neighbourhoods in Canadian Journal of Urban Research (CJUR).
Basu, R. (2012) 'Spatial Phronesis: A Case Study in Geosurveillance' in Flyvbjerg, B., Schram, S., Landman, T. (eds), Real Social Science: Applied Phronesis. Cambridge University Press.
Basu, R. (2011) 'Multiculturalism through Multilingualism in Schools: Emerging Places of 'Integration' in Toronto', in the Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Vol. 101, Issue 6, pp. 1307-1330.
Basu, R. (2011) 'Spatial Phronesis through Poetic Musings: Exploring Alternative Geographies' in the Art of Geography, Discussion Paper Series #59, Department of Geography, York University, edited by S. Flusty.
Barakat, B., Carson, D., Taylor, A., Basu, R. and Wang, L. (2010). 'Education, remoteness and population dynamics'. In D. Carson, R. Rasmussen, P. C. Ensign, A. Taylor and L. Huskey (Eds). Demography at the Edge: Remote human populations in developed nations. Farnham, England: Ashgate Publishing.
Basu, R. (2010) 'Geographies of Education', for the Encyclopedia of Geography, edited by Barney Wharf, Sage Publications.
Lo, L., Anisef, P., Basu, R., Preston, V., and Wang, S. (2009) 'Infrastructure in York Region: A GIS Analysis of Human Services', a research report submitted to Infrastructure Canada (available at www.yorku.ca/yisp). 160 pages. June.
Basu, R. (2009) 'Phronesis through GIS:Exploring Political Spaces of Education’, in Professional Geographer, Volume 61, Issue 4, 481-492.
Basu, R. (2007) 'Negotiating Acts of Citizenship in an Era of Neoliberal Reform: The Game of School Closures’ in International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Volume 31.1: 109-27.
Mok, D., Wellman, B. and Basu, R.(2007) ‘Did distance matter: Contact and support before the Internet’ in Social Networks 29, pp 430-461
Basu, R. (2006) ‘Multiethnic Neighbourhoods as sites of Social Capital Formation: Examining social to political ‘integration’ in schools’ in Education, Social Justice and Citizenship Volume 1 (1): 59-82.
Basu, R. (2005) ‘Geo-surveillance through the Mapping of ‘Test’ Results: An Ethical Dilemma or Public Policy Solution?’ in ACME An International E-journal for Critical Geographies, Volume 3(2): 87-111.
Basu, R. (2004) 'The Rationalization of Neoliberalism in Ontario's Public Education System, 1995-2000' in Geoforum, Volume 35/5:621-634.
Basu, R. (2004) ‘A Flyvbjergian perspective of Public Elementary School Closures in Toronto: A Question of ‘Rationality’ or ‘Power’? in Environment and Planning: C, Government and Policy, Volume 22: 423-251.
Massam, B., Basu, R. (2003) Quality of Life: the essence of the geography of health Akhtar,R. ed. (in press) Medical Geography: global perspectives, New Delhi: APH Corporation
Basu, R. (2002) ‘Active and Dormant Spaces: A look at the Geographical Response to School Based Care’ in the ‘Journal for Planning Education and Research’ (JPER) 21: 275-285.
Bourne, L.S. with Starkweather, S., Basu, R. (2000) People and Places: A Portrait of the Evolving Social Character in the Greater Toronto Region, Report to the Neptis Foundation, Toronto, 110 pp.
