School of Geography and the Environment

Johanna joined the School of Geography and the Environment in 2013, jointly appointed by the Department for Continuing Education. Johanna graduated from the University of Oxford (Jesus College), with a First Class (hons.) degree in Geography. She was then awarded a Canadian Rhodes Scholars Foundation Scholarship and went to the University of British Columbia, Canada, where she completed her MA and PhD. During her time at UBC she was awarded an Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Pre-Doctoral Fellowship. In January 2004, Johanna took up the post of Lecturer in Human Geography at the Department of Geography, University of Liverpool. She remained at Liverpool until December 2010, when she was appointed to Senior Lecturer in the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Birmingham. She moved to Oxford in June 2013. Johanna is from Swansea, South Wales and currently lives in South Warwickshire with her partner and three young children.

Johanna's research interests include international and transnational migration, young people and international higher education, and educational mobilities. She is particularly interested in understanding the ways in which experiences of (higher) education and subsequent employment are being transformed through internationalisation, and the relationship to (im)mobilities. She has recently completed a number of projects in this vein, including one with Rachel Brooks (University of Surrey) on British international students (British Academy, LRG-45489), and with Maggi Leung (Utrecht University) on transnational higher education in contemporary Hong Kong (ESRC and RGC, Hong Kong, RES-000-22-3000). She held an ESRC seminar series (with Rachel Brooks, Alison Fuller and John Holford) on the changing spaces of education, which is now published as an edited collection by Routledge (Brooks, R., A. Fuller and J. Waters (eds.) (2012) Changing spaces of education: new perspectives on the nature of learning). Johanna is currently working on a project on elite school geographies, with friend and colleague in sociology at Surrey Rachel Brooks.

• University of Oxford, Returning Carer's Fund, 2015 - 2016, £2,580
• The Brian Simon Fellowship, 2014 - 2015 (awarded by the British Educational Research Association), £3,000
• ESRC Research Grant, 2009 - 2011 (Principal Investigator with Co-Is M. Leung & G. Lin, University of Hong Kong); 'Joint initiatives between UK and Hong Kong higher education institutions - an examination of student and employer perspectives', £43,215 (FEC), plus HK$ 350,000 from Hong Kong Research Grants Council (RES-000-22-3000)
• ESRC Research Seminar Series, 2009 - 2010 (first Co-I with R. Brooks, Department of Politics, University of Surrey; A. Fuller, Department of Education, University of Southampton, and J. Holford, Department of Education, University of Nottingham); 'New Spaces of Education: the Changing Nature of Learning in the 21st Century', £13,965
• British Academy Larger Research Grant, 2007 - 2008 (Co-I with R. Brooks, Department of Politics, University of Surrey); 'International higher education and the mobility of UK students: motivations, experiences and labour market outcomes', £91,848 (FEC) (LRG-45489)

Johanna is part of the core teaching team on the MSc in Sustainable Urban Development. She lectures on migration for prelims and social geography for FHS. Within Continuing Education she is Director of Graduate Studies.

Current Graduate Research Students

Recent Graduate Research Students (since 2006)

• Dr. Christopher Coey, PhD awarded 2013. University studentship. Thesis: International education and European Migration, University of Liverpool
• Dr. Su-Chuin Soon, PhD awarded 2012. University studentship. Thesis: The Chinese Community in Liverpool, University of Liverpool
• Dr. Raye Ng, PhD awarded 2011. Self-funded. Thesis: Constructions of Corporate Culture in Singapore, University of Liverpool
• Dr. Denise Hinton, PhD awarded September 2010. ESRC/Welsh Assembly funded (1+3). Thesis: The Geography of HE Provision in Wales: Mobility and the Educational and Career Choices of Welsh Students, University of Liverpool
• Dr. Helena Pimlott-Wilson, PhD awarded December 2008. ESRC funded (1+3). Thesis: Children's Experiences of Mothers' Employment, University of Liverpool
• Dr. Stephanie Geary, PhD awarded April 2007. ESRC funded. Thesis: Organisational Knowledge in the Merseyside SME Support Sector: Knowing, Individual Interaction and Place, University of Liverpool

Books

• Waters, J. and Brooks, R. (forthcoming) Student Mobilities and Migration. Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke. (Contract signed in 2018).
• Waters, J. and Yeoh, B. (eds.) (forthcoming) Migration and the Family. Edward Elgar. (Contract signed in 2019).
• Abebe, T. and Waters, J. (eds.) (2017) Geographies of Children and Young People: Labouring and Learning. Springer, Dordrecht. ISBN: 978-981-4585-97-2.
• Brooks, R. and Waters, J. (2017) Materialities and Mobilities in Education. Routledge. pp. 158. ISBN: 9780367220600.
• Brooks, R. and Waters, J. (2013) Student Mobilities, Migration and the Internationalisation of Higher Education. Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke. pp. 216. ISBN: 9781137345998. (Paperback edition with new foreword).
• Brooks, R., Fuller, A. and Waters, J. (eds.) (2012) Changing Spaces of Education: New perspectives on the nature of learning. Routledge. pp. 280. ISBN: 978-0-415-67222-1.
• Brooks, R. and Waters, J. (2011) Student Mobilities, Migration and the Internationalization of Higher Education. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 208. ISBN: 9780230578449.
• Waters, J.L. (2008) Education, Migration and Cultural Capital in the Chinese Diaspora: Transnational students between Hong Kong and Canada. Cambria Press, New York. ISBN: 978-1604975437.

Journal Articles

• Waters, J. (forthcoming) The transgressive potential of transnational higher education? Bringing geography back in (again). Diskurs Kindheits- und Jugendforschung / Discourse. Journal of Childhood and Adolescence Research.
• Waters, J. and Brooks, R. (forthcoming) Mobilities and materialities in education: geographical perspectives [Editorial Introduction]. Population, Space and Place.
• Waters, J. and Leung, M. (forthcoming) Rhythms, flows and structures of cross-boundary schooling: state power and educational mobilities between Shenzhen and Hong Kong. Population, Space and Place.
• Brooks, R. and Waters, J. (2018) Signalling the ‘Multi-Local’ University? The Place of the City in the Growth of London-Based Satellite Campuses, and the Implications for Social Stratification. Social Sciences, 7(10).
• Waters, J. (2018) International Education is Political! Exploring the Politics of International Student Mobilities. Journal of International Students, 8(3): 1459-1478.
• Waters, J.L. (2018) In Anticipation: Educational (Im)mobilities, Structural Disadvantage, and Young People’s Futures. Journal of Intercultural Studies, 39(6): 673-687.
• Leung, M.W.H. and Waters, J. (2017) Educators sans frontières? Borders and power geometries in transnational education. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 43(8): 1276-1291.
• Lin, I., Leung, M. and Waters, J. (2017) Degrees of Value: Comparing the contextual complexities of UK Transnational Education in Malaysia and Hong Kong. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 49: 132-148.
• Waters, J. and Leung, M. (2017) Trans-knowledge? Geography, Mobility, and Knowledge in Transnational Education. Mobilities of Knowledge, 10: 269-285.
• Waters, J.L. (2017) Education unbound? Enlivening debates with a mobilities perspective on learning. Progress in Human Geography, 41(3): 271-298.
• Waters, J.L. and Leung, M.W.H. (2017) Domesticating transnational education: discourses of social value, self-worth and the institutionalisation of failure in ‘meritocratic’ Hong Kong. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 42(2): 233-245.
• Waters, J. (2015) Educational imperatives and the compulsion for credentials: family migration and children's education in East Asia. Children's Geographies, 13(3): 280-293.
• Waters, J. and Brooks, R. (2015) 'The magical operations of separation': English elite schools' on-line geographies, internationalisation and functional isolation. Geoforum, 58: 86-94.
• Brooks, R. and Waters, J. (2014) The hidden internationalism of elite English schools. Sociology, 49(2): 212-228.
• Waters, J. and Leung, M. (2014) 'These are not the best students': continuing education, transnationalisation and Hong Kong's young adult 'educational non-elite'. Children's Geographies, 12(1): 56-69.
• Leung, M. and Waters, J. (2013) British degrees made in Hong Kong: an enquiry into the role of space and place in transnational education. Asia Pacific Education Review, 14(1): 43-53.
• Leung, M.W.H. and Waters, J.L. (2013) Transnational higher education for capacity development? An analysis of British degree programmes in Hong Kong. Globalisation, Societies and Education, 11(4): 479-497.
• Tse, J. and Waters, J. (2013) Transnational youth transitions: becoming adults between Vancouver and Hong Kong. Global Networks, 13(4): 53-550.
• Waters, J. and Leung, M. (2013) A Colourful University Life? Transnational Higher Education and the Spatial Dimensions of Institutional Social Capital in Hong Kong. Population, Space and Place, 19: 155-167.
• Waters, J. and Leung, M. (2013) Immobile transnationalisms? Young people and their in situ experiences of 'international' education in Hong Kong. Urban Studies, 50(3): 606-620.
• Waters, J. and Leung, M. (2013) Young people and the reproduction of disadvantage through transnational higher education in Hong Kong. Sociological Research Online, 17(3): 1-6. Nominated for the SAGE prize 2013.
• Brooks, R., Waters, J. and Pimlott-Wilson, H. (2012) International education and the employability of UK students. British Educational Research Journal, 38(2): 281-298.
• Waters, J. (2012) Editorial: The socio-spatial fragmentation of higher education: some unexpected consequences of internationalisation. Geoforum, 43(5): 1-3.
• Waters, J.L. (2012) Geographies of international education: mobilities and the reproduction of social (dis)advantage. Geography Compass, 6(3): 123-136.
• Waters, J. and Brooks, R. (2011) 'Vive la différence'? The 'international' experiences of UK students overseas. Population, Space and Place, 17(5): 567-578.
• Waters, J. and Brooks, R. (2011) Introduction: International/transnational spaces of education. Globalisation, Societies and Education, 9(2): 155-160.
• Waters, J., Brooks, R. and Pimlott-Wilson, H. (2011) Youthful escapes: British students, overseas education and the pursuit of happiness. Social and Cultural Geography, 12(5): 455-470.
• Waters, J.L. (2011) C. Jeffrey, P. Jeffery and R. Jeffery 'Degrees without freedom? Education, masculinities and unemployment in North India'. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 41(3): 439-441.
• Waters, J.L. (2011) Time and transnationalism: a longitudinal study of immigration, endurance and settlement in Canada. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 37(7): 1119-1136.
• Brooks, R. and Waters, J. (2010) Social networks and educational mobility: the experiences of UK students. Globalisation, Societies and Education, 8(1): 143-157.
• Waters, J. (2010) Distinction, social advantage and mobility: understanding the role of migration in the employment experiences of graduates in Hong Kong. BELGEO, 4: 383-393.
• Waters, J. and Brooks, R. (2010) Accidental achievers? International higher education and, class reproduction and privilege in the experiences of UK students overseas. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 31(2): 217-228.
• Waters, J.L. (2010) Becoming a father, missing a wife: Chinese transnational families and the male experience of lone parenting in Canada. Population, Space and Place, 16(1): 63-74.
• Brooks, R. and Waters, J. (2009) A second chance at 'success': UK students and global circuits of higher education. Sociology, 43(6): 1085-1102.
• Brooks, R. and Waters, J. (2009) International higher education and the mobility of UK students. Journal of Research in International Education, 8(2): 191-209.
• Waters, J.L. (2009) Immigration, transnationalism and 'flexible citizenship' in Canada: an examination of Ong's thesis ten years on. Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, 100(5): 635-645.
• Waters, J.L. (2009) In pursuit of scarcity: transnational students, 'employability' and the MBA. Environment and Planning, A, 41(8): 1865-1883.
• Waters, J.L. (2009) Transnational geographies of academic distinction: the role of social capital in the recognition and evaluation of 'overseas' credentials. Globalisation, Societies and Education, 7(2): 113-129.
• Waters, J.L. (2008) B.A. Ruble (2005) Creating Diversity Capital: transnational migrants in Montreal, Washington and Kyiv, Baltimore, The John Hopkins Press. National Identities, 10(2): 237-246.
• Waters, J.L. (2008) R. Edwards and R. Usher (2008) Globalisation and Pedagogy: Space, Place and Identity (2nd edition) (Routledge: London and New York), pp. 191. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 27(5): 599-607.
• Featherstone, D., Phillips, R. and Waters, J. (2007) Introduction: spatialities of transnational networks. Global Networks, 7(4): 383-391.
• Waters, J.L. (2007) 'Roundabout routes and sanctuary schools': the role of situated educational practices and habitus in the creation of transnational professionals. Global Networks, 7(4): 477-497.
• Waters, J.L. (2006) Emergent geographies of international education and social exclusion. Antipode, 38(5): 1046-1068.
• Waters, J.L. (2006) Geographies of cultural capital: education, international migration and family strategies between Hong Kong and Canada. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 31(2): 179-192.
• Waters, J.L. (2005) A. Ong (2003) Buddha is Hiding: Refugees, Citizenship, The New America California, University of California Press. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 23(6): 925-938.
• Waters, J.L. (2005) D. S. Massey and J. Edward Taylor (eds.) 2004 International Migration: Prospects and Policies in a Global Market Oxford: Oxford University Press. Population Studies, 59(1): 119-134.
• Waters, J.L. (2005) K. Mitchell (2004) Crossing the neo-liberal line: Pacific Rim Migration and the Metropolis Philadelphia: Temple Press. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 96(1): 212-214.
• Waters, J.L. (2005) Transnational family strategies and education in the contemporary Chinese diaspora. Global Networks, 5(4): 359-378.
• Waters, J.L. (2004) E. Ostergaard-Nielsen (ed.) (2003) International Migration and Sending Countries: Perceptions, Policies and Transnational Relations, Palgrave, Macmillan. Population Studies, 58(2): 247-257.
• Waters, J.L. (2003) Flexible citizens? Transnationalism and citizenship amongst economic immigrants in Vancouver. The Canadian Geographer, 47(3): 219-234.
• Waters, J.L. (2002) Flexible families? 'Astronaut' households and the experiences of lone mothers in Vancouver, British Columbia. Social and Cultural Geography, 3(2): 117-134.
• Waters, J.L. (2001) K. Willis and B. Yeoh (eds.) (2000) Gender and Migration, Edward Elgar Publishers. Journal of International Migration and Integration, 2(1): 144-145.

Book Chapters

• Brooks, R. and Waters, J. (forthcoming) Decision making. In, Ogden, A, Streitwieser, B. and Van Mol, C. (eds.) Education abroad: bridging scholarship and practice. Routledge, Oxford.
• Waters, J. (forthcoming) Cultural Capital. In, Kobayashi, A. (ed.) 2nd edition of the International Encyclopedia of Human Geography. .
• Waters, J. (forthcoming) Internationalization of education. In, Kobayashi, A. (ed.) 2nd edition of the International Encyclopedia of Human Geography. .
• Waters, J. (forthcoming) Migration. In, Kobayashi, A. (ed.) 2nd edition of the International Encyclopedia of Human Geography. .
• Waters, J. and Brooks, R. (forthcoming) Geographies of connection? The Chicken Project and other international acts by state secondary schools in England. In, Engel, L., Maxwell, C. and Yemini, M. (eds.) The Machinery of School Internationalisation in Action. Beyond the Established Boundaries. Routledge.
• Waters, J. and Leung, M.W.H. (2018) South-South Cooperation through Education? The example of China with/in Africa. Chapter 28 in, Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E. and Daley, P. (eds.) Routledge Handbook of South-South Relations. Routledge.
• Abebe, T. and Waters, J. (2017) Geographies of Laboring and Learning: Introduction. Chapter 1 in, Abebe, T. and Waters, J. (eds.) Geographies of Children and Young People: Laboring and Learning. Springer, Dordrecht. pp. 1-17. ISBN: 978-981-287-031-5.
• Brooks, R. and Waters, J. (2017) The mobility imperative: English students and 'fair' access to international higher education. Chapter 15 in, Mountford-Zimdars, A. and Harrison, N. (eds.) Access to Higher Education: Theoretical perspectives and contemporary challenges. Routledge. 254 pp. ISBN: 9781138924116.
• Waters, J. (2017) Geographies of Education. In, Oxford Bibliographies. Oxford University Press.
• Waters, J. (2016) Theorizing Mobilities in Children’s Educational Experiences: Promises and Pitfalls. In, Skelton, T., White, A. and Ni Laorie, C. (eds.) Geographies of Children and Young People. Movement, Mobilities, and Journeys. Springer, Dordrecht. pp. 231-244. ISBN: 978-981-287-028-5.
• Brooks, R. and Waters, J. (2015) The boundaries of privilege: elite English schools' geographies and depictions of a local community. In, Van Zanten, A. and S. J. Ball (eds.) World Yearbook of Education 2015 - Elites, Privilege and Excellence: The National and Global Redefinition of Educational Advantage. Routledge. 248 pp. ISBN: 9781138786424.
• Waters, J. (2015) Dysfunctional mobilities: international education and the chaos of movement. In, Wyn, J. and H. Cahill (eds.) Handbook of Children and Youth Studies. Springer, Dordrecht. ISBN: 978-981-4451-15-4.
• Brooks, R. and Waters, J. (2013) 'Global graduates', student mobility and the funding of higher education. Chapter 8 in, Heller, D. and Callender, C. (eds.) Student Financing of Higher Education: A comparative perspective. Routledge. 266 pp. ISBN: 978-0-415-53596-0.
• Waters, J. (2013) Mobilities. In, Lee, R., Castree, N., Kitchin, R., Lawson, V., Paasi, A., Philo, C., Radcliffe, S., Roberts, S.M. and Withers, C. (eds.) The SAGE Handbook of Progress in Human Geography. SAGE, London. 832 pp. ISBN: 9780857022486.
• Waters, J. and Brooks, R. (2013) Accidental achievers? International higher education, class reproduction and privilege in the experiences of UK students overseas. Chapter 5 in, David, M. and Naidoo, R. (eds.) The Sociology of Higher Education: Reproduction, transformation and change in a global era. Routledge. 158 pp. ISBN: 978-0-415-65966-6.
• Brooks, R. and Waters, J. (2012) Young Europeans and educational mobility. Chapter 4 in, Leaman, J. and Wörsching, M. (eds.) Youth in Contemporary Europe. Routledge, Oxford. pp. 85-102. ISBN: 978-0-415-81063-0.
• Brooks, R., Fuller, A. and Waters, J. (2012) Changing spaces of education: introduction. Chapter 1 in, Brooks, R., Fuller, A. and Waters, J. (eds.) Changing Spaces of Education. New Perspectives on the Nature of Learning. Routledge, London. pp. 1-17.
• Fuller, A., Brooks, R. and Waters, J. (2012) Afterword: from changing spaces of education to changing spaces of learning. In, Brooks, R., Fuller, A. and Waters, J. (eds.) Changing Spaces of Education. New Perspectives on the Nature of Learning. Routledge, London. pp. 261-263.
• Waters, J. (2012) Perspectives on geography and learning. Chapter 41 in, Jarvis, P. (ed.) The Routledge International Handbook on Learning. Routledge. 584 pp. ISBN: 978-0-415-57130-2.
• Waters, J. and Brooks, R. (2012) Transnational spaces, international students: Emergent perspectives on educational mobilities. Chapter 2 in, Brooks, R., Fuller, A. and Waters, J. (eds.) Changing Spaces of Education. New Perspectives on the Nature of Learning. Routledge, London. pp. 21-38.
• Waters, J.L. (2009) Cultural capital. In, Kitchen, R. and Thrift, N. (eds.) International Encyclopedia of Human Geography, Vol. 2. Elsevier, Oxford. pp. 404-406. ISBN: 978-0-08-044910-4.
• Waters, J.L. (2009) Immigration. In, Kitchen, R. and Thrift, N. (eds.) International Encyclopedia of Human Geography, Vol. 5. Elsevier, Oxford. pp. 297-307. ISBN: 978-0-08-044910-4.
• Waters, J.L. (2009) Internationalization of education. In, Kitchen, R. and Thrift, N. (eds.) International Encyclopedia of Human Geography, Vol. 5. Elsevier, Oxford. pp. 548-554. ISBN: 978-0-08-044910-4.
• Ley, D. and Waters, J.L. (2004) Transnational migration and the geographical imperative. Chapter 5 in, Jackson, P., Crang, P. and Dwyer, C. (eds.) Transnational Spaces. Routledge, London. pp. 104-121. ISBN: 978-0-415-51087-5.
• Waters, J.L. (2003) 'Satellite Kids' in Vancouver: transnational migration, education and the experiences of lone children. In, Charney, M.W., Yeoh, B.S.A. and Kiong, T.C. (eds.) Asian Migrants and Education: The tensions of education in immigrant societies and among migrant groups. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht. pp. 165-184. ISBN: 978-1-4020-1336-2.

Other Publications

• Waters, J.L. (forthcoming) Hong Kong Movers and Stayers: Narratives of Family Migration. Social Forces.

Working papers

• Waters, J.L. and Teo, S.Y. (2003) 'Social and cultural impacts of immigration: an examination of the concept of 'social cohesion' with implications for British Columbia'. Vancouver Centre of Excellence, Research on Immigration and Integration in the Metropolis Working Paper Series: No. 03-03, 47pp.
• Bauder, H., Waters, J.L. and Teo, S.Y. (2001) 'Economic, demographic and geographic impacts of immigration to British Columbia'. Vancouver Centre of Excellence, Research on Immigration and Integration in the Metropolis Working Paper Series: No. 01-17, 115pp.
• Waters, J.L. (2001) 'The flexible family? Recent immigration and astronaut households in Vancouver, British Columbia'. Vancouver Centre of Excellence, Research on Immigration and Integration in the Metropolis Working Paper Series: No. 01-02, 52pp.
• Waters, J.L. (2001) 'Migration strategies and Transnational Families: Vancouver's Satellite Kids'. Vancouver Centre of Excellence, Research on Immigration and Integration in the Metropolis Working Paper Series: No. 01-10, 39pp.

Research/policy reports and blog entries

• Waters, J. 'UK-China partnerships and collaborations in higher education', GlobalHigherEd, April 23 2008.
• Waters, J. 'Private Canadian education firm buys community college and expands existing links with China', GlobalHigherEd, Feb. 18 2008.
• Waters, J. 'Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University and Liverpool International College', GlobalHigherEd, Dec. 19 2007.
• Waters, J. 'Offshore schools as 'feeders' to the Canadian higher education system', GlobalHigherEd, Nov. 28 2007.
• Waters, J.L. and Teo, S.Y. (2001) 'Social and Cultural Impacts of Immigration: An Examination of Research into Social Cohesion with Implications for British Columbia' for B.C. Ministry of Multiculturalism and Immigration, Canada.
• Bauder, H., Waters, J.L. and Teo, S.Y. (2001) 'Economic, Demographic and Geographic Impacts of Immigration to British Columbia' for B.C. Ministry of Multiculturalism and Immigration, Canada.
• Waters, J.L. (2000) Policy Research Conference 'Rethinking the Line: the Canada-US border', October 22nd - 25th, Vancouver, B.C. (published in conference proceedings).
• Waters, J.L. (2000) 'Urban Diversity: Managing Multicultural Cities' March 27th, Robson Square Conference Centre, Vancouver.