Paul McDaniel
Dr. Paul N. McDaniel is a Professor of Geography in the Department of Geography and Anthropology at Kennesaw State University and is currently serving as Vice President of the Southeastern Division of the Association of American Geographers (2024-2026). He is a broadly-trained geographer, having taught a variety of human
geography and physical geography courses in diverse formats including large and small
face-to-face courses, fully online, and study abroad. As an urban geographer, his
research explores the geography of inclusive place-branding, particularly as it relates to
vulnerable and historically marginalized populations, other issues related to inclusive
city- and place-branding strategies, initiatives, processes, and effects, and how
place-branding can contribute to the cultural, economic, political, and social development
of cities and regions. Beyond these areas of focus, his additional current scholarship
of teaching and learning research examines aspects of geography education.
Dr. McDaniel has published widely in geography and interdisciplinary peer-reviewed journals, including Journal of Urban Affairs, Southeastern Geographer, Professional Geographer, Journal of Geography, Papers in Applied Geography, Journal of Geography in Higher Education, The Geography Teacher, Journal of International Migration and Integration, Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, Geographical Review, Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, Journal of Community Practice, Journal of Race Ethnicity & the City, Law & Policy, Museums and Social Issues, Health Promotion Practice, Journal of Migration and Health, among others, as well as academic book chapters, and reports and other pieces for a general audience, such as those published with the American Immigration Council, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, and Atlanta Studies. He is also the lead editor of Integration and Receptivity in Immigrant Gateway Metro Regions in the United States, from Lexington Books (an Imprint of Rowman & Littlefield, now part of Bloomsbury, 2024), and a co-guest editor of a special issue of the Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship (2025). He has delivered research and applied presentations at many local, regional, national, and international conferences, meetings, workshops, and other venues. McDaniel is also a National Geographic Society Explorer (NGS-50802E-18).
Dr. McDaniel's teaching interests broadly include regional geography, human geography, urban geography and urban studies, cultural geography, population geography, and health geography. His teaching of geography and teaching philosophy is informed by his extensive travels throughout all 50 U.S. states and several territories in the United States, most provinces in Canada, many states in Mexico, several islands in the Caribbean, along with travels to Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Burma/Myanmar, China, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, France, Germany, Greece, Honduras, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel/Palestine, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Peru, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and Vatican City. He is a strong advocate for domestic study away and study abroad experiences, along with undergraduate research experiences, as high impact practices for student success and engagement, and regularly teaches in summer study abroad programs (such as in Italy, Spain, and France). He also contributes to effective online education and is the recipient of the 2024 RCHSS Outstanding Online Teaching Award from the Norman J. Radow College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Kennesaw State University. The following is a brief introduction video for one of Dr. McDaniel's recent online courses:
Prior to joining the faculty at Kennesaw State University in 2015, McDaniel was a research fellow with the American Immigration Council in Washington, DC. Originally from Birmingham, Alabama, McDaniel earned a Ph.D. in Geography and Urban Regional Analysis from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, an M.A.E. in Higher Education Leadership from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, an M.S. in Geography from the University of Tennessee, and a B.S. in Geography from Samford University.
