David Butz

Professor, Geography and Tourism Studies

Professor David Butz profile photo

Office: MC C315
905-688-5550 x3205
[email protected]

Core faculty member in the graduate program in Social Justice and Equity Studies, Brock University
Faculty Steering Committee, Social Justice Research Institute, Brock University
Editor-in-Chief: Studies in Social Justice
Editorial Board Member: Pakistan Geographical Review, Pakistan Journal of Geography, Pakistan Journal of Mountain and GEOsciences

Research Interests

  • Social and cultural geography
  • Qualitative research design
  • Community level social organisation in northern Pakistan
  • Mobility justice
  • Mobilities, road construction and social change in the global south
  • Transport labour in the Karakoram/Hindu-Kush/Himalaya
  • Reggae music and spatiality

Graduate student supervision

Current graduate students:
None at present.

Former graduate students:

  • Sharon Pinseng Dokurugu. 2025. “Local and Regional mobilities of Ghanaian International Graduate Students at Brock University,” MA in Geography, Brock University. (MRP)
  • Anthony Dzacka. 2024. “Gendered Mobility Inequality in Sub-Saharan African Urban Settings: A Systematic Literature Review,” MA in Geography, Brock University. (MRP)
  • Idris Khan. 2024. “The Shifting Constitution of Space, Gender and Mobility in a Context of Religious and Infrastructural Change: A Case Study of the Swat Valley, Pakistan,” MA in Geography, Brock University. (MRP)
  • Julia Hamill. 2021. “‘Molida’, That’s Shimshali Food: Modernization, Mobility, Food Talk, and the Constitution of Identity in Shimshal, Pakistan,” MA in Geography, Brock University. (Thesis)
  • Lina Adeetuk. 2021. “Rural Youths’ Perspectives on the Significance and Impacts of New Roads: The Case of Kaasa – Zogsa Road, Builsa North District, Ghana,” MA in Geography, Brock University. (Thesis)
  • Aaron Nartey. 2020. “Return Migration of Ghanaian Immigrants: Drivers & Reintegration Challenges,” MA in Geography, Brock University. (MRP)
  • Syed Khuram Farrukh. 2019. “Social Media Representations of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan and their Relation to Metropolitan Domination: The Case of Attabad Lake,” MA in Geography, Brock University. (Thesis)
  • Stephanie Murray. 2019. “Defining Freedom: An Ethnographic Study with American Vanlifers,” MA in Geography, Brock University. (Thesis)
  • Katrina Baxter-Moore. 2017. “For the Benefit of Whom? A Critical Analysis of the Claims of Volunteer Tourism,” MA in Popular Culture, Brock University. (MRP)
  • Benjamin Kwao. 2017. “Sustainable Food Systems in Northern Ghana: Assessing the Influence of International Development,” MA in Geography, Brock University. (Thesis)
  • Michael Ayerh. 2016. “Social and Environmental Impact of Large-Scale mining in Ghana: A Case Study of Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipal Assembly,” MA in Geography, Brock University. (MRP)
  • Edna Abanga. 2015. “Access to Health Care Services in Ghana,” MA in Geography, Brock University. (MRP)
  • Warren Jenkinson. 2015. “Geographical Applications for Sound Walks,” MA in Geography, Brock University. (Thesis)
  • Pushpa Hamal. 2014. “Rural Road Construction in the Global South: How Process Shapes Outcome,” MA in Geography, Brock University. (MRP)
  • Oscar Kuffour. 2014. “Disaster Risk Reduction in the Human Security Perspective: The Case of Urban Ghana,” MA in Geography, Brock University. (MRP)
  • Raphael Atanga. 2011. “Tourism and Sustainable Development in Ghana: A case study of the Paga Crocodile Ponds,” MA in Geography, Brock University. (MRP)
  • Katie Hemsworth. 2010. “The use of personal listening devices on public transit to transform soundscape and place,” MA in Geography, Brock University. (Thesis)
  • Aaron Franks. 2008. ““A minor theory: Transmigration of ecological practice into transformative political discourse, via Campesina,” MA in social Justice and Equity studies, Brock University. (Thesis)
  • Anna Lise Domanski. 2007. “Righteous sounds and reproductive justice: The influence of Ani DiFranco’s music for reproductive rights activists,” MA in Social Justice and Equity Studies, Brock University. (Thesis)
  • Julie Gregory. 2007. “Dancing Politics: Connecting Women’s Experiences of Rave in Toronto to Ageism and Patriarchy,” MA in Social Justice and Equity Studies, Brock University. (Thesis)
  • Lorraine Pannett. 2006. “Found in Translation: Life History and Migration,” MA in Social Justice and Equity Studies, Brock University. (MRP)
  • Samah Sabra. 2005. “From 1940s Fez to 1990s Paris: Conceptualising Contact Zones and Understanding Autoethnography in a Global Arena of Representation,” MA in Social Justice and Equity Studies, Brock University. (Thesis)
  • Kathryn Zavitz. 2004. “International Volunteers at a Costa Rican Organic Farm: Sheepish Volunteers, Proud Tourists and Unwitting Developers,” MA in Social Justice and Equity Studies, Brock University. (Thesis)
  • Kathryn Besio. 2001. “Spatial Stories of Researchers, Travelers and Tourists in a Balti Village: Jangli Geographies of Transculturation,” PhD in Geography, University of Hawaii. (Dissertation co-supervisor)
  • Tania Dolphin. 2000. “The Discursive Construction of Hunza, Pakistan, in Travel Writing: 1889-1999,” MA in Geography, Carleton University. (Thesis co-supervisor)

Committee Member:

  • Jennica Giesbrecht. 2022. “Intimate Deathscapes: Examining Alternative Discourses of the Dead Body and Death Care Spaces,” MA in Geography, Brock University. (Thesis)
  • Jackie Gervais. 2020. “Understanding Post-secondary Student Mobility and its Impact on Wellbeing,” MA in Geography, Brock University. (Thesis)
  • Shannon Kitchings. 2018. “Insider Voices: Witnessing Oral Disclosures of Trauma,” MA in Social Justice and Equity Studies, Brock University. (Thesis)
  • Emmanuel Akowuah. 2018. “Farmers’ Access to Agricultural Information and its Impact on Smallholder Agriculture: A Case Study of the Asante Akim North Municipality, Ghana,” MA in Geography, Brock University. (MRP)
  • Connor Dingle. 2017. “Mobile Technology and Place at the Matheson Learning Commons,” MA in Geography, Brock University. (MRP)
  • Diana Owusuaa. 2016 “The Role of TRansnational Funeral Celebrations in Connecting Ghanian (Akan) Women in Toronto to Ghana,” MA in Geography, Brock University. (MRP)
  • Maame Achiaa Agyemang. 2016 “Climate Change, Food Security and Vulnerability in Ghana’s Upper West REgion: Challenges and Adaptation Strategies,” MA in Geography, Brock University. (MRP)
  • Emmanuel Kyeremeh. 2015 “Exploring the Discourse of Skill/s Mismatch in Ghana,” MA in Geography, Brock University. (MRP)
  • Richard Lagani. 2012 “Domestic Door Locks and Space: Unlocking Key Knowledge of the Home,” MA in Geography, Brock University. (MRP)
  • Ola Mohammed. 2012 “My Poetry Hails within the Streets, My Poetry Fails to be Discrete: Examining Belonging and Identity in Southern Ontario Diasporic Hip-Hop Music,” MA in Popular Culture, Brock University. (MRP)
  • Ian Wood. 2011 “The Neoliberalisation of Street Vending Policy in Lima, Peru: The Contested Politics of Citizenship, Property and Public Space in the Production of a New Urban Marginality,” MA in Geography, Brock University. (Thesis)
  • Jumoke Isekeije. 2010. “Peeking Through the Opomulero Lens: Tunde Kelani’s Women on Centre Stage,” MA in Popular Culture, Brock University. (MRP) 
  • Joshua Holt. 2008. “Steeltown Scene: Genre, Performance and Identity in the Alternative Independent Music Scene in Hamilton, Ontario,” MA in Popular Culture, Brock University. (Thesis)
  • Maureen Kihika. 2008. “The United Nations Millenium Development Goal to ‘Combat HIV/AIDS in Kenya by 2014’,” MA in Social Justice and Equity Studies, Brock University. (MRP)
  • Heather Maguire. 2007. ““Citizen Jane: Exploring the Relationship Between Gender and Cellular Phones in Societies of Control,” MA in Social Justice and Equity Studies, Brock University. (Thesis)
  • Tomee Sojourner. 2006. “From Periphery to Centre: An Exploratory Study of One Black Lesbian’s Intersections of Identity and Experiences of Discrimination in the Workplace,” MA in Social Justice and Equity Studies, Brock University. (Thesis)
  • Shauna Flanagan. 2003. “Differential Vulnerability to Debris Flow Hazard in High Mountain Communities of the Karakoram Himalaya, Northern Pakistan,” MA in Geography, WLU. (Thesis)
  • Nick Craddock-Henry. 2002. “Risk, Vulnerability and Environmental Hazards in the Village of Darkot, Northern Pakistan,” MA in Geography, WLU. (Thesis)

External Examiner:

  • Tehzeeb Bano. 2025. “Indigenous Mountainous Communities in Gilgit Baltistan: Responding to Climate Change; Challenges Using Indigenous Knowledge,” PhD in Social Practice & Transformational Change, University of Guelph. (Comprehensive Examination)
  • Nilanjana Sen. 2025. “Forging Ethical Selves: An Ethnographic Study of Young People and Ethical Life in Himalchal Pradesh,” PhD in Geography, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, University of Melbourne. (Dissertation)
  • Nikolaj Grausland Kristensen. 2024. “Materialised and Imagined Urban Connectivity: A Study of the Perceived and Represented (Im)Mobilities of Different Sociospatial Neighbourhoods in Danish cities,” PhD in Sustainability & Planning, Aalborg University. (Dissertation)
  • Ryan Hendricks. 2019. “An Autoethnographic Analysis of Race, Class, Gender, Sexuality, and Ability Intersecting in the Construction and Categorization of Subject Positions in a Personal Narrative,” PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies, University of British Columbia, Okanagan. (Dissertation)
  • Naila Zafar. 2018. “Monitoring Desertification in Kirthar National Park, Sindh: A Geographical Evaluation,” PhD in Geography, University of Karachi. (Dissertation)
  • Heidi Karst. 2016. “Protected Areas and Ecotourism: Charting a Path Toward Social-Ecological Wellbeing,” PhD in Geography, University of Waterloo. (Dissertation)
  • Abdul Rauf. 2014. “Immigrants in Bahawalpur City, Their Livelihood and Integration,” PhD in Geography, Islamia University of Bahawalpur. (Dissertation)
  • Ghulam Murtaza Safi. 2014. “Spatial Dimensions of Agriculture in Sibi District, Balochistan,” PhD in Geography, University of Karachi. (Dissertation)
  • Jeremy Thompson. 2010. “Climbers’ Perceptions of Sustainable Bouldering Practices in the Niagara Glen,” MA in Applied Health Sciences, Brock University. (Thesis)
  • Jaspreet Bal. 2010. “Children’s Rights in Rural Punjab: The Story of a Border Dweller,” MA in Child and Youth Studies, Brock University. (Thesis)
  • David Tavares. 2010. “Informal Urban Citizenship in the Multicultural City: Literary Representations of Second-Generation Youth in Toronto and London” PhD in Geography, University of Ottawa. (Dissertation)
  • Syed Shahid Ali. 2009.“Structure and Spatial Patterns of Agriculture in Pakistan: A Study in Regionalization” PhD in Geography, University of Karachi. (Dissertation)
  • Shakila A. Rahman. 2009.“Poverty in Karachi: Geographical Perspective and Socio-Economic Profile” PhD in Geography, University of Karachi. (Dissertation)
  • Khalida Zainab. 2003.“Changes in the Spatial Structure of Administrative Areas in Pakistan: A Geographical Evaluation” PhD in Geography, University of Karachi, Pakistan. (Dissertation)
  • Yiping Lee. 2000.“A Phenomenological Study of Tourists’ Travel Experiences,” PhD in Geography, University of Western Ontario. (Dissertation)

Reggae music

Reggae music

From September to May I host a weekly one-hour radio show called Riddim Come Fawaad: Solid Reggae Vibrations on CFBU 103.7FM. The show live-streams Wednesday nights at 9:00 and Saturday afternoons at 4:00.

Publications and collections

Pakistan publications

Publications relating to work in Pakistan:

Reggae research

Publications relating to reggae research:

  • (2010) “Response as autoethnography: 1970s outernational roots reggae” paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers, Washington DC, 12-18 April 2010.
  • (2009) Review of Bob Marley: Herald of a Postcolonial World? By Jason Toynbee. Popular Music 28(2), 267-9.
  • (2007) “Burnin’ and Lootin’ across the Black Atlantic (Leeds, 1973): Trans-local associations of identity and experience” paper presented at theAnnual Meeting of the Canadian Association of Geographers, Saskatoon, 29 May – 2 June 2007.
  • (2007) Review of Caribbean Popular Music: An Encyclopedia of Reggae, Mento, Ska, Rock Steady and Dancehall by D. Moskowitz, in Popular Music and Society 30(2): 285-287.
  • (2005) (D. Butz and S. Sabra) “Musical and Diasporic Networks: Understanding Space in the Music of the Fugees” paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association of Geographers Annual Meetings, London, June 2005.
  • (2005) (S. Sabra and D. Butz) “Epistemologies of Diaspora: Affiliations of Space and Identity in the Music of the Fugees” paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers, Denver, CO, 5-9 April 2005.
  • (2004) “Trod On: Spatial Ontology, Diaspora and Reggae Music” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association of Geographers, Moncton, 25-29 May 2004.
  • (2004) “Starting from Scratch: The Evocation of Spatiality in Lee Perry’s Reggae Sounds” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Cultural Studies Association, Boston, 5-9 May 2004.
  • (2004) “Sufferers’ Dub: The Articulation of Spatiality in Lee Perry’s Reggae Music” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers, Philadelphia, 15-19 March 2004.
  • (2003) “My Roots/Routes I’ll Never Forget: The Constitution of Spatiality in Reggae Music” Invited lecture for the Waikato University Cultural Studies Seminar Series, Hamilton, New Zealand, 4 June 2003.
  • (2003) Review of Sound Tracks: Popular Music, Identity and Place by J. Connell and C. Gibson, in The Canadian Geographer 47(4):  84-86.
  • (2002) “Every Word, Every Second and Every Third: Listening for Geography in the Sounds of Music” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers, Los Angeles, 19-23 March 2002.
  • (2001) “Preliminary Reflections in Favour of Musical Metaphors of Socio-Spatial Relations” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association of Geographers, Montreal, 29 May – 3 June 2001.
Other publications

Other publications: