Casey D. Allen

Not your typical bachelors-to-masters-to-PhD professor, Case’s background includes many professional, real-world experiences outside the Ivory Tower. And, being trained formally as a Geographer, Educator, and Academic Advisor, his interests remain wide-ranging: geomorphology (landforms), rock art, virtual learning environments, aesthetics, sense/spirit of place, biocrusts, medieval cartography, cultural/regional studies, geobotany, and the list continues. But while his professional background may appear science-laden at first glance, upon deeper inspection, each piece inherently includes some form of humanistic geography. Whatever he does, that component always guides his endeavors. Although Dr. Allen studies Earth in all its forms, he is, at the core, a humanist – just as much artist as scientist who believes in the individual. And this allows him to, for example, gauge how people learn complex knowledge and processes better through fieldwork than sitting in a classroom.

 

On the technical side, Dr. Allen has experience in general manuscript editing, designing/managing websites, digital photography & editing, video and direct-to-web production, and spatial analysis ([historic] repeat photography, photogeomorphology, and remote sensing – including low altitude, high-resolution UAS applications and surface recording gyro guidance systems). He prides himself on keeping current in New/Social Media endeavors and up-to-date with technological advances as they pertain to teaching and research, readily incorporating new concepts whenever possible. For example, he designed the format and assessments for several online courses at Arizona State University (and also taught a few) for a new graduate program. At University of Colorado Denver, he created (and taught) the first-ever high-enrollment online general science course, which received rave reviews from students in its inaugural debut and subsequent iterations. He even uses AI in his course assignments at The University of the West Indies, helping students utilize and leverage AI competently and ethically.

 

In a similar vein, Dr. Allen no longer uses standardized tests in his classes – even large introductory survey classes. He focuses instead on some type of application and/or knowledge production rubric, centering more on doing rather than lecturing, including critical writing, fieldwork, in-class-based exercises, labs, and discussions. In all instances, Dr. Allen champions non-traditional pedagogies, favoring humanistic and project-based assessments. He also works hard to incorporate student-driven fieldwork opportunities locally, regionally, and internationally – most recently in the Caribbean since that’s where he resides. But he also continues to offer students short-term, field-based opportunities abroad in such locales as Morocco, the UK, France, Japan, the US Southwest and, most recently, Sicily (as part of the Norman Sicily Project).

 

As an Educator, Dr. Allen strives to give students meaningful and professional-level experiences. This usually entails some kind of fieldwork – getting out of the classroom and on the ground. Whether that means studying about the natural world through interacting with ancient petroglyphs etched in rock varnish, learning about the constructed world through art and architecture, or gaining a deeper understanding of people by interacting with different cultures first-hand, it matters not to him. Experience gained in situ remains invaluable. A quick perusal of his current and past research supervised displays a variety of topics, once again focused on humanistic geography and grounded in fieldwork: from drinking water quality, landscape change, and alternative energy to interactive mapping, architectural analyses, and documentary production. In every situation, he ardently believes in providing students with the tools they need to succeed. Frankly, he lives to serve them.

 

As a Geographer, Dr. Allen uses the Earth as a pedagogical stage. One of his greatest joys lies in exploring places, well-known and foreign, domestic and international, because just wandering allows for myriad discoveries not otherwise experienced. And he encourages the same behavior in his students, working hard to provide them with similar opportunities. This can mean leading students through the Colonial streets of Bridgetown, medieval castles, and modern-day cities, or helping them gain appreciation for science and the Arts through interactivity with/in the landscape – each of which can aid them in discovering their own sense of place.

 

To enhance these endeavors, Dr. Allen developed the concept of Geography by Rail® to help people experience, appreciate, understand, and learn about landscapes in a unique way, making use of what would otherwise be downtime on an excursion and bringing back an old-time way of assessing landscapes first attempted over a century ago by explorers. He has led GbR excursions to London and Paris, Imperial Japan, England & Scotland, and even Morocco. People are eager for these kinds of experiential experiences, each of which remain grounded in fieldwork, but contain a humanistic flair.

 

Dr. Allen’s combination of skills and experiences lend themselves well to spatial thinking – an oft-overlooked yet important skill to develop because it helps with seeing trends others might miss. Using this guiding principle, he discovered many people/students who otherwise might become lost or overwhelmed in academia, suddenly realize they can make sense of things. Indeed, this represents the foundation of his pedagogy and, in his eyes, geography. In the end, his goal rests in mentoring students/people to achieve success. This is what matters to Case’s heart and soul. Whatever the situation, he remains a vehement believer that everyone can succeed if they are given the proper guidance. So he stands ready to help in any way possible.

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