Melissa Y. Rock
Melissa Y. Rock received her PhD in Geography and Women's Studies from The Pennsylvania State University. Her dissertation, titled Splintering Beijing: Socio-spatial fragmentation, commodification and gentrification in the hutong neighborhoods of Old Beijing, investigated the impacts of Olympic urban redevelopment upon low-income and marginalized communities in China's capital city. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Geography and affiliate faculty in the Asian Studies program at the State University of New York (SUNY) at New Paltz. She teaches a wide range of human geography courses including: Human Geography, Political Geography, Gender and Geography, Cultural Geography, Contemporary China, Global Cities, and Geography of International Affairs. She received her Masters in International Relations from Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, and a bachelor's degree from the University of Oregon in Environmental Studies and International Studies. Melissa is also a Teach for America Alumna (2000, Oakland, CA), a 2004 NSEP Boren Fellow (China), and a 2008 Fulbright Fellow (China).