Robert Kruse, Ph.D., Professor of Geography
McMillen Endowed Chair
Main Hall Rm. 343
304-336-8257

Education
Ph.D. Geography, Kent State University
M.A. Geography, Kent State University
B.A. Geography, Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania

WLU History
Began teaching at WLU in 2005.
Interim Chair of the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences (2010-2012)
Interim Dean of the College of Liberal Arts (2013-2015)

Courses Taught
GEO 205 Introduction to Geography
GEO 312 Geographies of World Tourism
GEO 400 Cultural Geography
GEO 403 Geographies of Popular Culture
GEO 481 Seminar in Urban and Rural Geography

Academic/Research Interests
Dr. Kruse’s primary academic interest is in Cultural Geography, including geographies of art and music, tourism, popular culture, disabilities.

Selected Publications
Book Chapters

• 2010 “Placing Little People: Dwarfism and the Geographies of Everyday Life,” in Towards Enabling Geographies: ‘Disabled’ Bodies and Minds in Society and Space, edited by Vera Chouinard, Edward Hall and Robert Wilton. (Surrey: Ashgate)
• 2009 “Geographies of John and Yoko’s 1969 Campaign for Peace: an Intersection of Celebrity, Space, Art and Activism,” in Sound, Society and the Geography of Popular Music, edited by Ola Johansson and Thomas Bell. (Surrey: Ashgate)

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

• 2022 “Bach on the Harbourfront: Geographies of the Toronto Music Garden, Area. 55(2):  254-263
• 2020 Pritchard, E. and Kruse, R. “Introduction: Cultural Representations of Dwarfism,” Journal of Literary and Cultural  Disabilities Studies. 14(2): 131-135
• 2019 “John Cage and Nonrepresentational Spaces of Music,” Social and Cultural Geography. 22(6), 767-782
• 2015 “Point Pleasant, West Virginia: Negotiated Place Identity on a Tourism Landscape,” Southeastern Geographer 55(3): 315-339.
• 2012 “The Making of the ‘Piano Bar’: Landscape, Art and Discourse in Biscayne Bay,” Southeastern Geographer 52(2): 131-145.
• 2009 “The Geographical Imagination of Barack Obama: Representing Race and Space in America,” Southeastern Geographer 49(2): 221-239.
• 2005 “The Beatles as Place Makers: Narrated Landscapes in Liverpool, England,” Journal of Cultural Geography 22(2): 67-114.

Personal Interests
When not in the classroom, Dr. Kruse enjoys activities that get him outdoors, including kayaking, camping, and traveling.