I am always eager to recruit outstanding graduate students at the MA and PhD levels. Please note that open slots in our graduate programs are limited, and therefore admission is extremely competitive. Before undertaking the time, effort, and expense of applying, potential recruits should honestly self-assess their chances of admission. Potential graduate students are welcome to contact me between Sept. 1 and the application deadline. Your email should include your academic background, as well as your past, current, and future research. Please be specific in terms of your research areas, regions, expertise, methods, and approaches. Please also attach a current CV and indicate your TOEFL/IELTS score (or exam dates if you haven’t taken the tests). The GRE is no longer required for admission. 

I will follow up with a recommendation to either not apply or to send a draft of your research statement. If I request a research statement, I will respond to it by encouraging you to go ahead and apply or, alternatively, to not apply. I cannot provide detailed feedback or comment on research statements.

Current CV:  

Interests:
Urbanization, Political economy, Energy geography, Resource geography

Current Research:
Urbanism and urbanization in East Asia
Taiwan urban historical geography and “military dependents villages” 
New towns and boomtowns

Courses Taught:
GEOG 5503 - Urban China: Space, Place, and Urban Transformation
GEOG 2100 - Introduction to Human Geography
GEOG 2750 - World Regional Geography
GEOG 3701 - The Making of the Modern World
INTSTDS/FILM STUDIES 3905 – The Developing World on Screen
INTSTDS 2500 - Introduction to Development Studies

Select Publications:

Max D. Woodworth. 2024. “Macro concerns in the study of the micropolitics of urban change.” Dialogues in Human Geography. https://doi.org/10.1177/20438206241228

Max D. Woodworth. 2023. “‘Freedom Cities’: Trump and an American global new city.” Urban Geography. Publishing online Oct. 2, 2023. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02723638.2023.2263121

Max D. Woodworth. 2023. “Thinking ‘with’ China: Material and conceptual challenges.” Dialogues in Human Geography. Published online April 27, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1177/2043820623117214

Max D. Woodworth and Shiuh-Shen Chien. 2022. “New Cities in China: Tracking Urban Projects on the City Fringe.” Geography Compass, published online https://doi-org.proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/10.1111/gec3.12612

Max D. Woodworth. 2021. “Ruins, ruination, and fieldwork photography.” China Perspectives (4): 9-19.

Max D. Woodworth, Yu Zhou, Xuefei Ren, Yining Tan, Jesse Rodenbiker, Ettore Santi. In press. “Researching China during the Covid-19 Pandemic,” in Stanley Brunn and Donna Gilbreath (Eds.), Covid-19 and a World of Ad Hoc Geographies. Springer.

Max D. Woodworth. 2020. “Picturing Urban China in Ruin: ‘ghost city’ photography and speculative urbanization.” GeoHumanities 6(2): 233-251.

Max D. Woodworth and Agnieszka Joniak-Lüthi. 2020. “Introduction to the Special Issue: Exploring China’s Borderlands in a Time of BRI-Induced Change,” Eurasian Geography and Economics 61(1): 1-12.