about

James Biles is a core faculty member in the International Studies and Sustainability Programs at The City College of New York and the Ph.D. Program in Earth & Environmental Sciences at the CUNY Graduate Center. He is also the director of the Center for In Situ Policy Research and collaborates with the Instituto de Docencia y Análisis Geográficos, Ambientales y Regionales (INDAGAR) in Yucatán, Mexico. As an economic geographer, his research focuses on the confluence of global economic processes, development policy and local livelihoods, particularly in urban and rural areas of Latin America. In light of the deep-seated changes in the role of government and the prevailing ideology of development since the final decades of the 20th century, his work relies heavily on fieldwork, including large-scale household surveys, and attempts to incorporate the experiences of those excluded from prevailing models of development while highlighting agency – the place-specific practices and strategies that people employ for the purposes of improving livelihoods.

Biles earned his undergraduate degree in Urban and Environmental Studies at Ohio University and his Ph.D. in Economic Geography at Michigan State University. He also has completed a Graduate Certificate in Public Administration and Public Policy at the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies. Biles has been a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) and served as a consultant for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the State of Yucatán (Mexico). He is currently a member of the International Association for Community Development (IACD), the Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP), and the Conference of Latin American Geography (CLAG). Prior to coming to CUNY, he served on the faculties of Indiana University and Western Michigan University.