Curry, Janel M. and Steve McGuire. 2002. Community on Land: Community, Ecology, and the Public Interest. Boulder, CO: Rowman and Littlefield.
Community on Land looks to the history of the 'the commons' in American and European social thought to better understand contemporary environmental problems. The argument of the book is that American law governing lands and resources relies on the individualist assumptions of Enlightenment thinkers, who regarded land as 'wasted' when not being 'improved' by European agriculture or colonization. The history of this philosophical and historical legacy is revealed in the strong influence of American concepts on community and land which is shown to show the law's insufficient comprehension of community rights. The book advocates for realistic policy alternatives whereby community governance can better solve the challenges of resource management and other American social problems.
Curry, Janel. 2010-present. Blogs on “Reflections on place and cross-cultural encounters.”
Geography and Environmental Thought
Geography is an academic field that includes the study of the relationship among humans and nature. This focus within geography includes the study of the global range of expressed human-land relations among the world’s great variety of environments and societies. The outworking of the patterns of human-land relationship on the landscape are impacted by economic, social, environmental, and religious factors.
Much of my work as a geographer has involved understanding the societal and religious worldviews that underlie the expressions of human-nature relationships on the landscape and in natural resource policy. My research and exploration have taken me to Great Barrier Island, New Zealand to study the development of a marine reserve, to Iowa in the U.S. to study the differing farm systems among eight ethnic and religious farm communities, to Canada to compare societal visions and forest policy, and to Hong Kong to explore the use of space within an urban context.
Below are the professional roles, positions, and publications that have arisen out of this life-long journey of exploration of the relationship between worldviews and how different human societies relate to nature.
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University of Minnesota Ph.D., Geography, 1985
Supporting program in Agricultural EconomicsUniversity of Minnesota M.A., Geography, 1981
Supporting program in AnthropologyBethel College, Minnesota B.A., Political Science, 1977
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Canada Fulbright 20th Anniversary Alumni Contest, 2nd Prize essay, 2010
Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Rural and Agricultural Geography, Rural Geography Specialty Group of the Association of American Geographers, 2009
John Fraser Hart Award for Research Excellence. Rural Geography Specialty Group of the Association of American Geographers, 2005
Faculty Outstanding Performance Award for Professional Growth and Development, Central College, 1992
Selected by the Institute of British Geographers Executive Council as “Young Research Scholar,” 1991
Decade Alumni Award for Academic Achievement, Bethel College, 1987.
Ralph H. Brown Award for Best Graduate Student Publication, Department of Geography, University of Minnesota, 1983 and 1985
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Executive Director, American Scientific Affiliation, Topsfield, MA, 2022-present
Professor of Geography and Environmental Studies, Calvin College, 1996-2012
Associate Professor (1991-1996) and Assistant Professor (1985-1991), Geography and Environmental Studies, Central College, Pella, Iowa
Project Director on legal and cultural status of Houma tribe, Mennonite Central Committee and United Houma Nation, Dulac, Louisiana, 1977-1978
Executive Committee Member, American Scientific Affiliation, 2020-2022
Board Member. Care of Creation, Madison, Wisconsin, 2015-present
Planning Board Representative. Community Preservation Committee, Town of Hamilton, 2018-2019
Board Member. Town of Hamilton Planning Board, 2018-2019
Associate Member. Town of Hamilton Planning Board, 2017-2018
Member. Grand Rapids City Planning Commission, March 2009-2012
Board Chair. Evangelical Environmental Network, 2007-2014; Board Member, 2005-2015
Board Member. National Religious Partnership on the Environment, 2011-2015
Board Member. ECHO, a non-profit with a mission to increase effectiveness of those working with small scale farmers or urban gardeners in developing countries, 2007-2010
Calvin College Representative. Community Sustainability Partnership, Grand Rapids, 2005-2010
Calvin College Representative. Michigan Higher Education Partnership for Sustainability, 2006-2008; Chair, local arrangements, state-wide workshop of MiHEPS, Plugging the Leaks, November, 2007
Board Member. Academic Council of the Global Stewardship Study Program (GSSP), an undergraduate study abroad program of Target Earth, 1999-2002
Chair. Contemporary Agriculture and Rural Land Use Specialty Group. Association of American Geographers, 1994-1996; Board member, 1988-1990; Chair of Nominating Committee, 1996-1998
Chair of the Board, Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Iowa State University, 1990-1991; Advisory Board Member 1987-1991 Center Associate.
National Rural Studies Committee, Western Rural Development Center, Corvallis, Oregon, 1988-1991
Regular Session Chair/Organizer. American Scientific Affiliation meetings; Association of American Geographers Annual Meetings
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Across Cultures, Within Contexts: Evangelicalism and Modernity. 2014-2015, Templeton Foundation (with K. Cook)
Climate Change: Complexity, Uncertainty and the Precautionary Principle. Reading group led with Del Ratzsch (Philosophy) and Jamie Skillen (Environmental Studies), 2009-2011, Calvin Center for Christian Scholarship
Why are countries poor? Reading group led with Roland Hoksbergen (Economics) and Tracy Kuperus (IDS and Political science), 2003-2005, Calvin Center for Christian Scholarship
Living as Part of God's Good Earth. 2002-2004, Coalition of Christian Colleges and Universities, Initiative Grants to Network Christian Scholars (with John Wood, Steve Bouma- Prediger, Susan Bratton, Mark Bjelland)
Care and the Christian Community: Reflections on an Ethics of Care Across Disciplines. 1999-2000, Calvin Center for Christian Scholarship (with Ruth Groenhout and Helen Sterk)
Values, Commitment, and Community in Natural Resource Management. 1997-1998, Calvin Center for Christian Scholarship (with Steven McGuire).
The Development of a Model of Community-Level Religious Worldviews as a Factor in Natural Resource Management. 1994-1995, Pew Charitable Trusts, Evangelical Scholars Program
A Comparative Study of the Impact of the Differing Societal Philosophies of the U.S. and Canada on Natural Resource Policy. June-August 1995, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada, Fulbright Research Fellowship
Development of a model of community-level worldviews as a factor in local responses to global and regional change. 1994-1995, Human Systems Team, Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.
Development of a model of community-level worldviews as a factor in local responses to global and regional change, 1993-1994, The Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research, University of Iowa.
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Curry, Janel M. and Paul Hanstedt, eds. 2014. Reading Hong Kong, Reading Ourselves. Hong Kong: City University of Hong Kong Press.
Curry, Janel M. and Ronald A. Wells, eds. 2008. Faithful Imagination in the Academy: Explorations in Religious Belief and Scholarship. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
Curry, Janel M. and Steve McGuire. 2002. Community on Land: Community, Ecology, and the Public Interest. Boulder, CO: Rowman and Littlefield. Bowman, Greg, and Janel M. Curry-Roper. 1982. The Houma People of Louisiana: A Story of Indian Survival. Houma, Louisiana: United Houma Nation, 1982.
Curry, Janel. 2022. “Thoughts on the Nature of our Search for Knowledge and Truth,” God and Nature. https://godandnature.asa3.org/curry-knowldege-and-truth.html
Curry, Janel (Expedition Leader), Photographs by Greg Smith, and Commentary by Vicki Best (Expedition Participant). 2019. Birds of New Zealand: A Gordon College/ASA Expedition. God and Nature (Fall). https://godandnature.asa3.org/curry-photoessay.html
Curry, Janel. 2019. “Time, Space, Worldviews and Agricultural Landscapes.” In Dutch Muck and Much More: Dutch American in Farming, Religion, Art and Astronomy, edited by Earl Wm. Kennedy, Donald A. Luidens, and David Zwart, pp. 1-14, Holland, Michigan: Van Raalte Press.
Curry, Janel, Margaret McCallum, and Jorge Juan Rodriguez V. 2016. “Spiritual Care Education and Rural Systems in Swan River.” Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling 70 (March): 53-62.
Curry, Janel. 2015. “God, Nature, and Society: Views of the Tragedies of Hurricane Katrina and the Asian Tsunami.” In The Changing World Religion Map, edited by Stanley D. Brunn, vol 1, 237-253, Dordrecht: Springer.
Curry, Janel and Melanie Gish. 2013. “Creation Care.” Encyclopedia entry for America Goes Green: An Encyclopedia of Eco-Friendly Culture in the United States, edited by Kimberly Kennedy White and Leslie A. Duram. ABC-CLIO. http://ebooks.abc-clio.com/reader.aspx?isbn=9781598846584&id=A3227C_V2-393&q=creation%20care
Curry, Janel. 2013. “Attachment to Place and Nature in Our Search for Shalom.” In Integrating the New Science of Love and a Spirituality of Peace, edited by Christian E. Early and Annmarie L. Early, pp. 113-124, Eugene, OR: Cascade Books.
Curry, Janel. 2012. “God, Nature, and Society: Theological Frameworks Illuminated by Two Natural Disasters.” Perspectives: A Journal of Reformed Thought 27 (8):14-17.
Curry, Janel. 2011. “Hong Kong through the Lenses of Space and Place,” Focus 54(3): 91-102.
Curry, Janel. 2011.“Cross-Boundary Faith: The Universal and the Contextual.” In Reformed Mission In An Age of World Christianity: Ideas for the 21st Century, edited by Shirley J. Roels, pp. 47-56, Grand Rapids: The Calvin Press, 2011.
Hoksbergen, Roland, Janel Curry, and Tracy Kuperus. 2009. “International Development: Christian Reflections on Today’s Competing Theories.” Christian Scholars Review 39(1): 11-35.
Curry, Janel. 2009. “Uplink: Janel Curry, Dean of Research, Calvin College, and Chair, Evangelical Environmental Network.” In Green Revolution: Coming Together to Care for Creation, by Ben Lowe, pp. 120-122. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
Curry, Janel M. 2008. “Christians and Climate Change: A Social Framework of Analysis.” Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 60(3): 156-164.
Curry, Janel M. and Ronald A. Wells. 2008. “Introduction.” In Faithful Imagination in the Academy, edited by Janel Curry and Ronald A. Wells, pp. 1-9, Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
Curry, Janel M. 2008. “Understanding God, Nature, and Social Structure: A Case Study of Great Barrier Island, New Zealand.” In Faithful Imagination in the Academy, edited by Janel M. Curry and Ronald A. Wells, pp. 151-164, Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
Curry, Janel. 2008. “Globalization and the Problem of the Nature/Culture Boundary.” In After Modernity? Secularity, Globalization, and the Re-Enchantment of the World, edited by James K.A. Smith, pp. 183-200, Waco, TX: Baylor University Press.
Curry, Janel M. 2007. “The Nature-Culture Boundary and Oceans’ Policy: Great Barrier Island, New Zealand.” The Geographical Review 97(1): 46-66.
Curry, Janel M. 2006. “Ocean Fisheries, Boundaries and God’s Perichoretic Love.” The Other Journal.com: An Intersection of Theology and Culture Issue 8, Earth to Christians.
www.theotherjournal.comCurry, Janel M. and Kathi Groenendyk. 2006. “Place and Nature Seen Through the Eyes of Faith: Understandings Among Male and Female Seminarians.” Worldviews: Environment, Culture, Religion 10(3): 326-354.
Groenendyk, Kathi, and Janel M. Curry. 2006. “A Communal Perspective: Women, Faith, and Nature.” The Journal of Communication and Religion 29(1):18-37.
Curry, Janel M. 2006. “Contested Ocean Spaces: Great Barrier Island, New Zealand.” Focus 48(4):25-30.
Wood, John, Janel Curry, Mark Bjelland, Steve Bouma-Prediger, and Susan Bratton. 2005. “Christian Environmentalism: Cosmos, Community, and Place.” Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 57(1): 1-5.
____________. 2005. Guest Editors. Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 57(1).
Curry, Janel M. 2003. “National Structures and their Impact on Forest Policy: A Canadian-United States Comparison.” In The New Countryside: Geographic Perspectives On Rural Change edited by Kenneth B. Beesley, Hugh Millward, Brian Ilbery, and Lisa Harrington, pp. 105-123, Brandon, Manitoba: Brandon University Rural Development Institute and St. Mary’s University, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
____________. 2003. “Social Capital and Societal Vision: A Study of Six Farm Communities in Iowa.” In Religion as Social Capital: Producing the Common Good, edited by Corwin Smidt, pp. 139-152, Waco, TX: Baylor University Press.
____________. 2002. “The Development of an Ethic of Service to Place.” In Commitment and Connection: Service-Learning and Christian Higher Education, edited by Gail Gunst Heffner and Claudia DeVries Beversluis, pp. 167-181, Lanham, MD: University Press of America.
Curry, Janel M., Gail Gunst Heffner, and David Warners. 2002. “Environmental Service-Learning: Social Transformation Through Caring for a Particular Place.” Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning 9(1): 58-66.
Curry, Janel M. 2002. “Care Theory and 'Caring' Systems of Agriculture.” Agriculture and Human Values 19(2): 119-131.
____________. 2002. Guest Editor, Special Issue on Geography. Christian Scholars Review 31(4).
____________. 2002. “Introduction to the Theme Issue.” Christian Scholars Review 31(4): 353-358.
____________. 2000. “Community Worldview and Rural Systems: A Study of Five Communities in Iowa.” Annals of the Association of American Geographers 90(4): 693-712.
____________. 2000. “Dutch Reformed Worldview and Agricultural Communities in the Midwest.” In The Dutch-American Experience: Essays in Honor of Robert P. Swierenga, edited by Hans Krabbendam and Larry Wagenaar, pp. 71-89, VU-Studies in Protestant History 5. Amsterdam: VU University Press.
Curry-Roper, Janel M. 2000. “Embeddedness in Place: Its Role in the Sustainability of a Rural Farm Community in Iowa.” Space and Culture Issue 4/5: 204-222.
Curry-Roper, Janel M. 1999. “Reformed Covenantal Worldviews and Debates in the Discipline of Geography.” Perspectives 14(6): 8-10.
Curry-Roper, Janel M. 1998. “Worldview and Agriculture: A Study of Two Reformed Communities in Iowa.” In Reformed Vitality, Continuity and Change in the Face of Modernity, edited by Donald Luidens, Corwin Smidt, and Hijme Stoffels, pp. 17-32, Lanham, MD: University Press of America.
____________. 1998. “Christian Worldview and Geography: Positivism, Covenantal Relations, and The Importance of Place.” In Geography and Worldview: A Christian Reconnaissance, edited by Henk Aay and Sander Griffioen, pp.49-60, Lanham, MD: University Press of America.
____________. 1997. “Community-Level Worldviews and the Sustainability of Agriculture.” In Agricultural Restructuring and Sustainability: A Geographical Perspective, edited by Tim Rickard, Brian Ilbery, and Quentin Chiotti, pp. 101-115, Wallingford, UK: CAB Int.
Curry-Roper, Janel M. and Steven McGuire. 1993. “The Individualistic Imagination and Natural Resource Policy.” Society and Natural Resources 6(3): 259-272.
Curry-Roper, Janel M. 1992. “Alternative Agriculture and Conventional Paradigms in United States Agriculture.” In Contemporary Rural Systems In Transition: Agriculture and Environment, vol. 1, edited by Ian Bowler, Chris Bryant and Duane Nellis, pp. 254-264, Wallingford, UK: CAB International.
Curry-Roper, Janel M. and John Bowles. 1991. “Local Factors in Land Tenure Change Patterns.” Geographical Review 81(4): 443-456.
Curry-Roper, Janel M. 1990. “Christianity, Individualism, and Natural Resource Policy.” Perspectives (November): 8-11.
Curry-Roper, Janel M. and Carol Veldman Rudie. 1990. “Hollandale: The Evolution of a Dutch Farming Community.” Focus 40(3): 13-18.
Curry-Roper, Janel M. 1990. “Contemporary Christian Eschatologies and Their Relation to Environmental Stewardship.” The Professional Geographer 42(2): 157169.
____________. 1989. “The Impact of the Timber and Stone Act on Public Land Ownership in Northern Minnesota.” Journal of Forest History 33(2): 7079.
____________. 1988. “Nicaragua: Land of Conflict.” Focus 38(3): 1824.
____________. 1987. “Culture Change and the Houma Indians: A Historical and Ecological Examination.” In A Cultural Geography of North American Indians, edited by Thomas E. Ross and Tyrel G. Moore, pp. 227241, Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press. 2nd Edition: pp. 211-226 in T.E. Ross, T.G. Moore, and L.R. King, eds. American Indian: A Cultural Geography, Southern Pines NC: Karo Hollow Press, 1995.
____________. 1987. “Nineteenth Century Land Law and Present Land Ownership Patterns.” Geographical Review 77(3): 261278.
____________. 1982. “Houma Blowguns and Baskets in the Mississippi River Delta.” Journal of Cultural Geography 2(2): 1322.
Curry, Janel M. 1979. “A History of the Houma Indians and Their Story of Federal Nonrecognition.” American Indian Journal 5(2): 828.
____________. 1980. “The Houma Indians and Jean Lafitte.” The Life and Times of Jean Laffite 5 (May): 3-4.
“My work as a geographer has involved understanding the societal and religious worldviews that underlie the expressions of human-nature relationships on the landscape and in natural resource policy. ”