Eric Spears, Ph.D.
Professor / Executive Director, Center for Global Engagement
Global Engagement, Center for
Professor
History, Geography, and Philosophy, Department of
Schuster Center 214
Geographic Information Systems, Geography, Latin American Studies, Asian Studies, International Education, International Relations
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. Geography, West Virginia University (USA)M.A. International Political Economy, University of Warwick (UK)
B.A. Geography, Marshall University (USA)
Foreign Language: Portuguese (Brazilian)
Fulbright Recipient:
Scholar-in-Residence (Writer of the Grant), Dr. Athene Reiss (Oxford Brookes University, UK)
International Educators, South Korea (2010)
Biography
Professor Eric Spears is the Mildred Miller Fort Foundation Eminent Scholar and Chair
of Education at Columbus State University. His administrative appointment is as the
Executive Director of the Center for Global Engagement (CGE), which is a twice nationally
award-winning department of international education. He is also a full professor of
Geography in the College of Letters and Sciences and a Global Fellow in the CSU Honors
College. Dr. Spears' geographic specializations are Brazil (Latin America) and East
Asia (China and Korea). Dr. Spears serves as the academic head of the Spencer House
in Oxford, England, which is CSU's signature study abroad program and overseas location.
In terms of professional service, Dr. Spears currently serves as the chair of the
University System of Georgia's System Council on International Education (SCIE) and
as president for the Asian Studies Development Program (ASDP) Alumni Association at
the East West Center in Manoa, Hawai'i. He is also on the Visiting Committee for the
Department of Geology and Geography at West Virginia University. Professor Spears
also donates his time to the Rotary Club of Columbus, Georgia and serves with the
Georgia Student Rotary Program (GRSP), which brings forty international students to
Georgia on scholarships for a year of study and subnational diplomacy.
Professor Spears has been a leader of international education for nearly a quarter
of a century, serving as the SIO (senior international officer) at Mercer University,
Georgia College and State University, and since the fall semester of 2017, at Columbus
State University.
Academic Areas
Brazil (Latin America) - Political Economy & UrbanizationChina - Modern Historical Geography and Political Economy
Research Interests
Dr. Spears is currently finishing a book with CSU's Dr. David Owings called Cartographic
America, which is schedule to be published by the CSU press in late 2024. The book
explores the extensive Spencer Map Collection in the CSU archives and provides an
historical analysis and narrative of more than fifty antique maps.
Research-in-Progress: Professor Spears is conducting research in Sao Paulo, Brazil
that focuses on political violence and urban space stemming from the Brazilian military
dictatorship of 1964-1985. The research (as of yet, untitled) explores the complex
interplay between state repression and urban resistance, as authoritarian policies
fueled widespread human rights abuses, while marginalized groups and grassroots movements,
particularly in Sao Paulo, mounted significant opposition. Spears' research investigates
how the regime's use of violence to suppress dissent paradoxically empowered civilian
resistance, and shaped Brazil's political and urban landscapes to the eventual restoration
of democracy.
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