Doctoral Dissertation Research in Geography and Regional Science

在整个发展中国家，政府已经建立了大规模的 灌溉项目和新的土地政策，希望增加粮食 生产 虽然这一目标往往已经实现，但结果是， 这些政策中的一个是对传统土地所有制的破坏 土地本身质量的退化。 这 博士论文研究项目将分析的过程， 塞内加尔河流域土地保有制度的变化和土地退化 位于塞内加尔北方的达姆加省。 土地保有权变化的模式和 土地退化将采用各种方法加以记录和分析， 数据来源，包括出版和档案记录，外地 观察、土壤测试、基因研究、航空照片， 访谈和口述历史 物理性质的定性分析 条件和历史文化属性将允许 完善和测试一个模型，重点是如何个人和 与土地和相关自然资源有关的群体， 资源 这项研究将提供一个结构良好， 关于从事种植业的人和 畜牧活动是对土地保有制度变化的回应。 这 案例研究将加深对本课题的理论认识， 这将为有前途的毕业生提供一个极好的机会 学生扩大和完善她的基本研究技能。

Throughout the developing world, governments have instituted large irrigation projects and new land policies in hopes of increasing food production. Although this goal often has been achieved, a consequence of these policies has been a disruption of traditional land-tenure practices and a degradation in the quality of the land itself. This doctoral dissertation research project will analyze the processes of tenure-system change and land degradation in the Senegal River Valley of Damga province in northern Senegal. Patterns of tenure change and land degradation will be documented and analyzed using a variety of data sources, including published and archival records, field observations, soil tests, geneological studies, aerial photographs, interviews, and oral histories. Qualitative analyses of physical conditions and of historical and cultural attributes will permit refinement and testing of a model that focuses on how individuals and groups relate to and make decisions about land and related natural resources. This research will provide a well-constructed and thoroughly documented case study of how persons engaged in cultivation and pastoral activities respond to changes in land-tenure systems. This case study will enhance theoretical understandings about this topic, and it will provide an excellent opportunity for a promising graduate student to expand and refine her basic research skills.