International Studies Program faculty

Joseph Getzoff is an Assistant Professor of the Practice in the International Studies Program, and a cultural geographer whose research explores the intersections of human-environment interactions, comparative settler colonial contexts, and the global histories of development.

Joe received a Fulbright Fellowship to conduct field research in Israel (2015-2017) for his doctoral dissertation, which interrogates the economic and environmental projects connected to state-led development in the arid Negev/Naqab desert. His work explores historical and contemporary economic and developmentalist narratives—such as found in the slogans, “make the desert bloom” and the “start-up nation”—that propel not only Israeli claims to land, but Israeli claims to progress and modernity. His work also focuses on how state-led developmental projects present several material and ideological challenges for Bedouin-Palestinian citizens of the Negev/Naqab, who have historical claims to the region. 

Joe is interested in teaching and advising from a broad geographic perspective, focusing especially on uneven development, environmental politics, and qualitative research methods. Before joining the IS Program at BC, Joe was a Visiting Assistant Professor at Clark University (2020-2022), where he won the 2022 Outstanding Undergraduate Teacher of the Year Award.  He has also taught at Worcester State University (2019-2020).  He received his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota’s Department of Geography, Environment and Society in 2020.