(In Memory of) Janice Monk
Professor Janice Monk passed away on 12 July 2024. She endowed a fund to support work in feminist geography, an annual Jan Monk lecture, and travel for students. If you would like to contribute to this fund you may do so here: https://give.uafoundation.org/janicemonk
Research Professor, School of Geography and Development Research Social Scientist Emerita, Southwest Institute for Research on Women
The flagship journal of the American Association of Geographers published a memorial essay discussing Jan’s life and work in October 2025. It can be accessed here: In Memoriam: Janice E. J. Monk (1937–2024)
(Citation: Diana Liverman, Chris Lukinbeal & Ann M. Oberhauser (06 Oct 2025): In Memoriam: Janice E. J. Monk (1937–2024), Annals of the American Association of Geographers, DOI: 10.1080/24694452.2025.2559547)
The University of Arizona held a memorial event at the School of Geography, Development and Environment (SGDE)in 2024 honoring Jan Monk. There is a long YouTube video of the event on October 25. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wniSohxvNzc]
News of Jan’s passing: https://geography.arizona.edu/news/celebrating-gift-and-legacy-jan-monk-advancing-women-community-and-research-geography
Other memories and publications in honor of Jan Monk include:
Baylina, M., M. D. G. Ramon, and A. Luna. 2025. En homenatge a Janice Monk (Sydney, 1937–Tucson, 2024) [In homage to Janice Monk (Tucson, 2024)]. Documents D’Analisi Geografica 71 (2):413–32.
Datta, A., J. Momsen, and A. M. Oberhauser, eds. 2024. Bridging worlds—Building feminist geographies: Essays in honour of Janice Monk. London and New York: Routledge.
Fincher, R., R. Howitt, K. Gibson, S. Batterbury, and B. Ryan. 2024. Obituary: Janice Monk. Geographical Research 62 (4):618–22. doi: 10.1111/1745-5871. 12676.
House-Peters, L. 2025. Honoring the life and contributions of Jan Monk to feminist geography, geographic education, and mentoring. Pacifica: Newsletter of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers.
Howitt, R., R. Fincher, K. Gibson, S. Batterbury, and B. Ryan. 2024. Janice Edith Jones Monk (13.03. 193712.07. 2024). Australian Geographer 55 (3):425–31. doi: 10.1080/00049182.2024.2400752
Sanders, R., J. Smothers-Marcello, B. Hildebrant, J. Bock, and T. Edwards. 2025. A tribute to Dr. Janice Monk, geographer. Journal of Geography 124 (2):44–49. doi: 10.1080/00221341.2025.2468430
Professor Monk’s research included feminist/gender studies and projects related to graduate education in geography. The feminist work is both geographic and interdisciplinary. Her research looked at the ways in which gender has shaped the development of geographic institutions and women's experiences within them. She also examined how feminist geography has been situated internationally. Working with Gender Commission of the International Geographical Union, she pursued this research while establishing collaborations and friendships in a number of parts of the world.
The interdisciplinary work reflected her association with the Southwest Institute for Research on Women (SIROW), which she directed for over two decades. Projects addressed women's employment, education, health, and culture. They involved collaborations across the Southwest and in northwestern Mexico with researchers and community agencies. SIROW also encouraged science-math education for girls and bringing women's studies and international studies together.
Much of her work in geography education has been concerned with university teaching and graduate education. She contributed to the Geography Faculty Development Alliance, which mentored early career faculty, and she was co-principal investigator for the Association of American Geographer's (AAG) EDGE projects that are researching career opportunities and professional development for MA and PhD students.
The work with the AAG also reflected her long-term connections to its activities. She was privileged to serve as AAG President in 2001-2002 and as a Senior Fellow she used to coordinate a program to engage retired geographers in support of the profession.
Publications by Janice Monk
See: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=LEuvmvIAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao
Most cited:
Monk, J., & Hanson, S. (1982). On not excluding half of the human in human geography. The Professional Geographer, 34(1), 11-23.
Katz, C., & Monk, J. (2014). Full circles: Geographies of women over the life course. Routledge.
Norwood, V., & Monk, J. J. (Eds.). (1997). The desert is no lady: Southwestern landscapes in women's writing and art. University of Arizona
Monk, J. (2004). Women, gender, and the histories of American geography. Annals of the Association of American geographers, 94(1), 1-22.
Monk, Janice and Allen, Casey D. (2024) "The Deviant Geographer," The Geographical Bulletin: Vol. 62: Iss. 1, Article 9. Available at: https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/thegeographicalbulletin/vol62/iss1/9