I teach in the Department of Geography, Geology and the Environment at Illinois State University. My courses include field courses in New Mexico/West Texas and Japan, geographic information systems (GIS), maps and society, and introductory courses in human and world regional geography.
I research and write about topics related to how people relate to and interact with their places, broadly falling under subdisciplines of sense of place and urban/cultural geography. In all I do, I try to integrate human geography and geographic information science. My first book, Everyday Las Vegas, is a place study of the local side of this tourist town and was published by the University of Nevada Press.
Education
Ph.D. in Geography (with honors): University of Kansas, May 2009
Emphasis: sense of place and urban/cultural geography
M.A. in Geography: University of Kansas, May 2005
Emphasis: combining geographic techniques and cultural/environmental geography
B.S. in Geography (cum laude): Brigham Young University, August 2002
Minor: Japanese
Typical Teaching Schedule
- Urban Geography (Geog 336)–Fall (occasional)
- World Geography (Geog 135)–Fall
- Human Geography (Geog 142)–Summer
- Introduction to Geographic Information systems (Geog 303)–Spring
- Regional Studies in New Mexico and West Texas (Geog 306.15)–Spring (even years)
- Maps and Geographic Reasoning (Geog 138)–Spring (odd years)
- Japan Explorations (Geog 306.22)–Summer (odd years)
- Career Preparation in Geography II–Spring
Select Publications
Rowley, Rex J. 2013 (paperback in 2014). Everyday Las Vegas: Local Life in a Tourist Town. Reno: University of Nevada Press, 272 p. Everyday Las Vegas, Home Page
Rowley, Rex J. 2020. “Under Threat of Fire.” GeoHumanities, 6, no. 2: 424-431. doi: 10.1080/2373566X.2020.1778501
Rowley, Rex J. 2020. “Antecedent Landscapes and Las Vegas Casinos: Exploring Place through a Referential Perspective.” Material Culture, 52, no. 1: 1-25.
Rowley, Rex J. 2019. “Evoking a Shifting Sense of Place in One Museum Following the 3/11 Tsunami in Japan.” Asian Geographer. doi: 10.1080/10225706.2019.1703768
Rowley, Rex J. 2019. “Kiribati at the Center of the World.” FOCUS on Geography, 62, no. 4. http://www.focusongeography.org/publications/photoessays/kiribati/index.html. doi: 10.21690/foge/2019.62.4p
Rowley, Rex J. 2018. “Landscapes of Recovery: Shifting Senses of Place Attachment in Kesennuma, Japan” in Explorations in Place Attachment, edited by Jeffery Smith, 211-225. London: Routledge.
Rowley, Rex J. 2017. “Voluntary Regions and the Case of Las Vegas.” Journal of Cultural Geography. doi: 10.1080/08873631.2017.1375371.
Rowley, Rex J. 2015. “Multidimensional Community and the Las Vegas Experience.” GeoJournal, 80, no. 3: 393-410. DOI: 10.1007/s10708-014-9561-y.
Rowley, Rex J. 2015. “Faith Islands in Hedonopolis: Ambivalent Adaptation in Las Vegas,” in The Changing World Religion Map: Sacred Places, Identities, Practices and Politics, Volume 4, edited by Stanley D. Brunn, 2265-2284. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.
O’Reilly, Catherine M., Derek K. Gray, Sapna Sharma, Stephanie E. Hampton, Jordan S. Read, Rex J. Rowley, Philipp Schneider, John D. Lenters, (and 56 others). 2015. “Rapid and highly variable warming of lake surface waters around the globe.” Geophysical Research Letters, 42, doi:10.1002/2015GL066235.
Rowley, Rex J. 2012 (2014 release of backdated issue). “Becoming Las Vegas: Opportunity and Challenge with the Building of Boulder Dam.” Nevada Historical Society Quarterly 55, no 1-4: 3-35.
Rowley, Rex J. 2013. “Where Locals Play: Neighborhood Casino Landscapes in Las Vegas,” in Frontiers in Chance: Gaming Research Across the Disciplines, edited by David G. Schwartz, 99–114. Las Vegas: UNLV Gaming Press.
Kostelnick, John C., David McDermott, Rex J. Rowley, and Nathaniel Bunnyfield. 2013. “Cartographic Methods for Visualizing Sea Level Rise.” Cartographica 48, no. 3: 200–224.
Rowley, Rex J. 2012. “Religion in Sin City.” Geographical Review 102, no. 1: 76–92.