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Dr Valerie Ledwith

B.A. (National University of Ireland, Galway)
M.A. (University of Colorado)
Ph.D. (UCLA)

Room:	110, Arts/Science Building
Phone:	00 353 (0) 91 492372
Fax:	00 353 (0) 91 495505
Email:	valerie.ledwithnuigalway.ie

Biography

Valerie completed her BA at NUI, Galway and then moved to the United States, where she received her MA in geography from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Upon graduating, she moved to Los Angeles and worked in the urban programme of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), an environmental action organisation. Before returning to Ireland, she completed her PhD at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her research focuses on how geographies of marginalisation and exclusion are constituted, focusing particularly on diversity, difference and socio-spatial mobility.

Teaching

TI 703 – Geopolitics and Security

TI 707 – MA Dissertation

TI358 – Social Geography

TI 350 – Seminar Series lectures

TI330 – Globalisation and Democracy

TI 238 – Global Urbanisation

TI 150 - Principles of Human Geography

Research

My current research is focussed on the geographies of educational inequality. I am completing a mixed method project examining the post-primary educational experiences and outcomes of junior cycle migrant youth in Galway city and hinterland. This research, which was funded by the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences (IRCHSS) and a Marie Curie Action, suggests the emergence of a two-tier educational system with the capacity to negatively impact on migrant youth access to future educational opportunities.

Areas of Research

• Social Geography
• Urban Geography
• Population Geography and Demography
• Quantitative Methods and GIS

Recent Publications

V. Ledwith and K. Reilly. Under Review. “Two Tiers Emerging? School Choice and Educational Achievement Disparities among Migrant and Non-Migrant Youth in Galway City.” Population, Space and Place

V. Ledwith. 2010. “The Influence of Open Enrollment on Scholastic Achievement among Public School Students in Los Angeles.” American Journal of Education 116 (2): 243-262.

V. Ledwith. 2009. “Open Enrolment and Student Sorting in Public Schools: Evidence from Los Angeles County.” Environment and Planning A 41(5) 1109 – 1128.

V. Ledwith and W.A.V. Clark. 2007. “The Effect of the Residential Mosaic and "White flight" on Public School Composition: Evidence from Los Angeles County.” Urban Geography 28 (2): 160-180.

W.A.V. Clark and V. Ledwith. 2007. “How Much Does Income Matter in Neighborhood Choice?” Population Research and Policy Review 26 (2): 145-161.

Current Students

Nicole James (PhD Candidate)
Providing Integration? An Examination of Street Level Youth Worker Strategy in Galway City.

. “Open Curriculum vitae

Discipline of Geography
National University of Ireland, Galway, University Road, Galway, Ireland
Tel.: +353 (0)91 49 2643
This page was last updated Monday, March 05, 2012