Austin Kocher, a second-year PhD candidate in geography, was selected to receive a 2013 Dissertation Proposal Development Fellowship (DPDF) from the Social Science Research Council. The award supports mid-stage graduate students in the humanities and social sciences to formulate effective research proposals through scholarly exchange within interdisciplinary areas of study.

Kocher's research focuses on the shifting immigration in the southeastern U.S. and the movement of people across borders. His dissertation concerns the legal geography of U.S. Immigration Courts.

The growth of immigration enforcement has resulted in a corresponding boom in immigration courts around the country and allegations of unwarranted case delays, low-quality legal representation for immigrants, and error-prone procedures, including the mistaken deportation of several U.S. citizens.

“My concern for this issue arose as a part of my military service at Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in Puerto Rico, where I saw first hand the complex situation of many residents in Latin America relative to U.S. economic and foreign policy,” said Kocher.

Kocher also is conducting potentially groundbreaking research in the area of deaf geography.

While working towards his BA in geography at Ohio State (2008), Kocher studied American Sign Language at Columbus State Community College. An interpreter with more than 10 years of signing experience, Kocher is interested in how non-deaf people learn about and actively construct deaf culture.

“Deaf geography looks at the deaf experience and its place in the world—how the physical and conceptual borders of deaf communities are created and how these communities preserve and transform their culture,” said Kocher. “I believe that geography has a lot to learn from people who are deaf and the deaf community and deaf studies has a lot to learn from geography.”

Kocher was selected for the DPDF from a very competitive national field of candidates from across the social sciences.