Timothy Oakes

Timothy Oakes is a Professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder, affiliated with the Department of Geography and serving as Director of the Center for Asian Studies. His work as a cultural geographer focuses on China's regional cultural development, with particular emphasis on culture industries, tourism, heritage, and place-based identities. Oakes examines how culture is mobilized for governance objectives and national development projects, particularly through tourism in rural and urban China.

• Affiliations:
  • Professor, Department of Geography, University of Colorado at Boulder
  • Director, Center for Asian Studies, University of Colorado at Boulder
  • Visiting Professor, Cultural Geography Group, Wageningen University (2010-2015)
  • Visiting Professor, Institute of Ethnology and Sociology, Guizhou Minzu University (2010-2012)

Research Interests include:

• Heritage Tourism in Guizhou Province, analyzing its role in state-led development and identity politics
• Governmentality and Tourism in urban and rural China
• Commodification of Place through leisure industries
• Spatial Governmentality in post-colonial contexts
• Transnational Cultural Production in Asia
• Visual Culture and state spatial narratives

Scientific Awards and Grants supporting his work include funding from the National Science Foundation, American Council of Learned Societies, and the University of Colorado College of Arts & Sciences. His courses cover topics like Qualitative Field Methods, Cultural Geography, and Geography of China, emphasizing ethnographic research and narrative methodology. Oakes' publications span books such as Real Tourism and Faiths on Display, with numerous articles in journals like Environment and Planning D and The China Quarterly.