Paul N. McDaniel

(He, Him, His)

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Dr. Paul N. McDaniel is an Associate Professor of Geography in the Department of Geography and Anthropology at Kennesaw State University. He is a broadly-trained geographer, having taught a variety of human geography and physical geography courses in diverse formats including large and small face-to-face courses, fully online, and study abroad. As an urban geographer, his current research explores the geography of place-branding, particularly as it relates to the causes, processes, and implications of immigration to urban regions, and other issues related to inclusive city- and place-branding strategies, initiatives, processes, and effects and how place-branding can contribute to the cultural, economic, political, and social development of cities and regions. Within this context, he also focuses on processes of immigrant settlement, adjustment, integration, and receptivity in cities and metropolitan areas, particularly in the U.S. South, using mixed-methods, qualitative, and community-based participatory research methods. McDaniel has published widely in peer-reviewed journals, including Journal of Urban Affairs, Southeastern Geographer, Professional Geographer, Papers in Applied Geography, Journal of International Migration and Integration, Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, Law & Policy, Geographical Review, Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, Journal of Community Practice, Museums and Social Issues, Health Promotion Practice, Journal of Migration and Health, among others, as well as academic book chapters, and reports and other pieces for a general audience. He is also the lead editor of the book "Integration and Receptivity in Immigrant Gateway Metro Regions in the United States" (2024, Lexington Books) and co-editor of a Special Issue on Immigration and Immigrant Community Engagement in the Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship (2025). He has delivered research and applied presentations at many local, regional, national, and international conferences, meetings, workshops, and other venues. His teaching interests broadly include regional geography, human geography, urban geography and urban studies, population geography, health geography, cultural geography, and research methods. Previously, McDaniel was a research fellow with the American Immigration Council in Washington, DC, and a project researcher with Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC). McDaniel earned a Ph.D. in Geography and Urban Regional Analysis from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, an M.A.E. in Higher Education Leadership from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, an M.S. in Geography from the University of Tennessee, and a B.S. in Geography from Samford University.

Experience

  • 2020–present
    Associate Professor of Geography, Kennesaw State University
  • 2015–2020
    Assistant Professor of Geography, Kennesaw State University
  • 2013–2015
    Research Fellow, American Immigration Council
  • 2007–2012
    Research Assistant, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
  • 2012–2012
    Project Researcher, Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc.

Education

  • 2013 
    University of North Carolina at Charlotte, PhD / Geography and Urban Regional Analysis
  • 2007 
    University of Alabama at Birmingham, MAE / Higher Education Leadership
  • 2006 
    University of Tennessee, MS / Geography
  • 2004 
    Samford University, BS / Geography

Publications

  • 2025
    Special Issue on Immigration and Immigrant Community Engagement, Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship
  • 2025
    Editors' Introduction to Special Issue: Democracy Personified through Immigrant Integration and Community Engagement, Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship
  • 2025
    Representation of the American South in North American Regional Geography Textbooks in the Twenty-First Century, Southeastern Geographer
  • 2025
    Inclusive Storytelling: Immigrant Experiences and Community Reaction in Georgia, Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship
  • 2024
    Charlotte, North Carolina: Multiple Scales of Receptivity in the Queen City, Integration and Receptivity in Immigrant Gateway Metro Regions in the United States
  • 2024
    Integration and Receptivity in Immigrant Gateway Metro Regions in the United States, Lexington Books (an Imprint of Rowman & Littlefield)
  • 2024
    Birmingham, Alabama: Immigrant Integration, Place Branding, and Geographies of Care in the Ridge and Valley, Integration and Receptivity in Immigrant Gateway Metro Regions in the United States
  • 2023
    Integrating ArcGIS Online and Digital Story Mapping for Active Learning in Systematic Geography Courses, Journal of Geography in Higher Education
  • 2023
    Welcoming Immigrant Integration Beyond the Local Level: Atlanta’s One Region Initiative, Journal of Race, Ethnicity and the City
  • 2022
    Teaching, Learning, and Exploring the Geography of North America with Virtual Globes and Geovisual Narratives, Journal of Geography
  • 2022
    'Why do they laugh at me?' Stereotypes and Prejudices Experienced by Immigrant Youth, Journal of Belonging, Identity, Language, and Diversity
  • 2022
    Beyond COVID Chaos: What Postsecondary Educators Learned from the Online Pivot, Professional Geographer
  • 2021
    Twenty-First Century Migration, Integration, and Receptivity: Prospects and Pathways in Metropolitan Areas of the Southeastern United States, Southeastern Geographer
  • 2021
    The Immediate Impact of COVID-19 on Post-Secondary Teaching and Learning, Professional Geographer
  • 2021
    A Scoping Review of Literature About Mental Health and Well-Being Among Immigrant Communities in the United States, Health Promotion Practice
  • 2021
    Immigration Status as a Health Care Barrier in the USA During COVID-19, Journal of Migration and Health
  • 2021
    Inclusive Storytelling: Community Reaction to Immigrant Youth Experiences in Atlanta, Atlanta Studies
  • 2020
    Human Services Providers’ Perspectives on Refugee Resettlement in the United States Before and After the 2016 Presidential Election, Journal of Immigrant and Refugee Studies
  • 2020
    A Global Welcome: Metro Chicago's Approach to Immigrant Inclusion, Chicago Council on Global Affairs
  • 2019
    'FU': One Response to the Liminal State Immigrant Youth Must Navigate, Law & Policy
  • 2019
    From Municipal to Regional Immigrant Integration in a Major Emerging Gateway: Planning a Welcoming Metro Atlanta, Papers in Applied Geography
  • 2019
    Immigrant Integration and Receptivity Policy Formation in Welcoming Cities, Journal of Urban Affairs
  • 2019
    Community-Based Participatory Research as a Tool for Improved Understanding and Practice of Newcomer Integration, Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement
  • 2018
    Shared Humanity, City Branding, and Municipal Immigrant Integration Initiatives in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern Geographer
  • 2018
    Welcoming America: A Case Study of Municipal Immigrant Integration, Receptivity, and Community Practice, Journal of Community Practice
  • 2018
    Creating a Welcoming Metro Atlanta: A Regional Approach to Immigrant Integration, Atlanta Studies
  • 2017
    Receptivity's Construction in Public Schools: A Component of Immigrant Integration in an Emerging Gateway, Journal of International Migration and Integration
  • 2017
    Increasing Immigrant Settlement and the Challenges and Opportunities for Public Education in Charlotte, North Carolina, US Latinization: Education and the New Latino South
  • 2017
    Receptivity and the Welcoming Cities Movement: Advancing a Regional Immigrant Integration Policy Framework in Metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia, Papers in Applied Geography
  • 2015
    Speaking of Change in Charlotte, North Carolina: How Museums Can Shape Immigrant Receptivity in a Community Navigating Rapid Cultural Change, Museums and Social Issues
  • 2015
    From Black and White to Technicolor: The Spatial Demographics of the New Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow: School Desegregation and Resegregation in Charlotte
  • 2015
    Belonging in charlotte: multiscalar differences in local immigration politics and policies, Geographical Review
  • 2009
    Ethnic Enclave or International Corridor?: Immigrant Businesses in a New South City, Southeastern Geographer

Grants and Contracts

  • 2023
    Geography and Anthropology Intradepartmental Research Initiative: Assessing Implications of Human and Physical Geography in Public Art Landscapes of the Atlanta BeltLine
    Role:
    PI
    Funding Source:
    Kennesaw State University
  • 2022
    Tenured Faculty Enhancement Program: Not-So-New Destinations: Changing Integration and Receptivity Experiences in Twenty-First Century New Immigrant Destination Metropolitan Regions
    Role:
    PI
    Funding Source:
    Kennesaw State University
  • 2021
    RCHSS Student Success Grant: Teaching Urban Geography through the Lens of the Atlanta BeltLine
    Role:
    PI
    Funding Source:
    Kennesaw State University
  • 2021
    RCHSS Research/Scholarship Support Grant: Welcoming Cities: Place-Branding and Geographies of Care, Inclusion, and Belonging
    Role:
    PI
    Funding Source:
    Kennesaw State University
  • 2020
    RCHSS Student Success Grant: Teaching the Geography and Sociology of Health through the Lens of the Atlanta-Based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
    Role:
    PI
    Funding Source:
    Kennesaw State University
  • 2020
    Connecting Globally While Grounded at Home: Advancing a Community-Based Participatory Research Model for Metropolitan Regional Immigrant Integration and Receptivity through the One Region Initiative
    Role:
    Co-PI
    Funding Source:
    Atlanta Global Research and Education Collaborative
  • 2020
    Summer Faculty Research Fellows Program
    Role:
    Research Fellowship
    Funding Source:
    Kennesaw State University
  • 2019
    RCHSS Student Success Grant: Teaching Urban Geography through the Lens of the Atlanta BeltLine
    Role:
    PI
    Funding Source:
    Kennesaw State University
  • 2019
    RCHSS Student Success Grant: Engaging Students through the ‘Places and Spaces: Mapping Science’ Exhibit
    Role:
    Co-PI
    Funding Source:
    Kennesaw State University
  • 2018
    Documenting Human Migration: Green Card Youth Voices - Immigration Stories from an Atlanta High School
    Role:
    PI
    Funding Source:
    National Geographic Society
  • 2017
    OVPR Pilot/Seed Grant: Atlanta’s Immigrant Crossroads: Civic Engagement as a Tool for Newcomer Integration
    Role:
    Co-PI
    Funding Source:
    Kennesaw State University
  • 2017
    Faculty Summer Research Grant: Local Processes of Immigrant and Refugee Receptivity and Integration in the U.S. and Europe
    Role:
    PI
    Funding Source:
    Kennesaw State University
  • 2016
    Creative Activities and Research Experiences for Teams: Atlanta’s Immigrant Crossroads: Untapped Potential or Utilized Promise for Newcomer Integration
    Role:
    Co-PI
    Funding Source:
    Kennesaw State University

Professional Memberships

  • Urban Affairs Association
  • American Association of Geographers
  • Ethnic Geography Specialty Group, American Association of Geographers
  • Southeastern Division, American Association of Geographers

Contact Paul for

  • General
  • Media request
  • Speaking request
  • Consulting / Advising
  • Research collaboration