David L. Butler
Department of Political Science, International Development and International Affairs
College of Arts and Letters
The University of Southern Mississippi
Hattiesburg, MS 39406-5108
Phone: (601) 266-4735
Fax: (601) 266-6219
Email: David.Butler@usm.edu
POSITION
2004-Present Director, Call Center Research Laboratory (CCRL)
The University of Southern Mississippi
2007-Present Associate Professor, Tenured
Department of Political Science, International Development &
International Affairs
The University of Southern Mississippi
2001-2007 Assistant Professor
Department of Political Science, International Development &
International Affairs
The University of Southern Mississippi
2006-2007 Editor, Horizons: The Journal of Global Policy and Development
2005-2006 Book Review Editor, Horizons: The Journal of Global Policy and Development
2002, Oct.-2005 Aug Director, International Development Program
The University of Southern Mississippi
2003, June-Sept. Interim Director, Center for Community and Economic
Development
EDUCATION
2001, Aug. Ph.D., University of Cincinnati
Major: Geography
Minors: Political Science, Economics
1996, Dec. MS, Texas A&M University
Major: Geography
Minor: History
1994, May BA, Texas A&M University
Major: History
Minor: Geography
ACADEMIC PUBLICATIONS
2008 Expert Testimony (written and oral) before the US House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce, regarding HR 1776 “Call Center Right To Know” bill, September 11.
2008 “Women's Work: The Home, the Workplace, and the Spaces Between,” Industrial Geographer, with Perry Carter, Volume 5, Issue 2, pp 1-16.
2008 “Imagining Plantations: Slavery, Dominant Narratives, and Foreign Born,” Southeastern Geographer, with Perry Carter and Owen Dwyer, Volume 48, Issue 3, pp. 288-302.
2008 “Debating Race Through the Tourist Plantation: Analyzing a New York Times conversation,” Southeastern Geographer, with Josepher Montes, Volume 48, Issue 3, pp. 303-315.
2007 “Interdisciplinary Departments” as part of the NSF’s Enhancing
Departments and Graduate Education (EDGE) project.
2007 “The Social and Economic Impact of The Call Center Industry in Ireland,” in the International Journal of Social Economics, volume 34, numbers 3 and 4, with Chuck Jobs and Deena Burris, pages 276-289.
2006 “International Energy Dependence: Facilitator and Vulnerability,” in Countering Terrorism in the 21st Century, Volume II, J. F. Forest, ed, Praeger, 2007, with Sumesh Arora, pp. 236-260.
2006 “A Case Study in the Globalization of Jobs in Ireland” in the International
Journal of Social Economics, with Chuck Jobs, Volume 33, no 10, pp.
666-676.
2004 Bottom-Line Call Center Management: Creating a Culture of Accountability and Excellent Customer Service," Butterworth-
Heinemann Elsevier Business Books (now Elsevier).
2004 “U.S. Call Centers: The Undiscovered Country,” in WorldMinds:
Geographical Perspectives on 100 Problems, Kluwer Publishers, Warf, Janelle, and Hansen, Eds., pp. 243-248.
2003 “Supply and Demand at Tourist Sites: A Case Study of Plantations” in
eRTR, Vol. 1, Issue 3.
2003 “Streamside management zone delineation for control of non-point source
pollution” with Brian Mitchell, Donald Williams, and Jerry
Griffith, in ESRI User Conference 2003 Proceedings.
2003 “Gender as a Predictor of Interpersonal Power in Political Office," in
Proceedings of the Academy of Organizational Culture, Communications
and Conflict. 7:1, with Sara Kimmel, et. al.
2003 “The Gendered Construction of Interpersonal Power in Political Office,”
Journal of Business and Economics Research, with Sara Kimmel, et. al.,
Volume 1, Issue 10, October 2003, pp. 15-26.
2002 “The Travails of the Independent African-American Travel Agent,”
in Annals of Tourism Research, with Stan Brunn and Perry Carter, Volume 29, Issue 4, pp. 1022-1035.
2002 "Culture Matters! Retaining Employees and Increasing Profitability:
Happy Airways," in Phillips, Patricia P., ed., In Action: Retaining Your
Best Employees, ASTD Publications, Alexandria, VA, pp. 135-150.
2001 “Technogeopolitics and the Struggle for Control of World Air Routes,
1910-1939,” in Political Geography, June, 20: 5, pp.635-658.
2001 “Whitewashing Plantations: The Commodification and Social Creation of
a Slave-Free Antebellum South,” in the International Journal of
Hospitality and Tourism Administration, Vol. 2, Nos. 3/4, 159-171 and in
Slavery, Contested Heritage and Thanatourism, Graham M. S. Dann and A. V. Seaton, Eds, Haworth Press, pp. 159-171.
2001 “The Revolution Beyond Control: The Coming Clash of Profit and
Security in Outer Space,” in National Security Studies Quarterly
with Richard Harknett, Winter, Vol. 7, Issue 1, pp.635-658.
ACADEMIC PUBLICATIONS SUBMITTED
2009 “Gazing Across the Color Line: White Visitors to Southern Heritage
Sites,” submitted to Environment and Planning A, March, with Perry Carter and Owen Dwyer.
ACADEMIC PUBLICATIONS IN PROGRESS
2008 “Technogeopolitics and the 1926 Ibero-American Aerial Conference,” to
be submitted to Geopolitics.
2008 The Tom Sawyer Effect: How an Organization can Implement Self-Service Solutions, book project, with Tim Saur.
PRESS
2006-present Editor and Essayist for the twice monthly National Association of Call
Centers’ newsletter In Queue.
2005 State of the Industry Report 2005, NACC, A Labor Survey of the Industry.
2005 State of the Industry Report 2005, NACC, Volumes 1 and 2, Global
Markets and US Market
2005 State of the Industry Report-Winners and Losers: Change in Call Center
Location and Employment 2002-2005, NACC White Paper #1, June.
2002 “Information Control and the United States Airline Industry,”
Written testimony before the National Commission to Ensure Consumer
Information and Choice in the Airline Industry, Washington DC, July.
1999 “City Image, Corporate Relocation, and Labor Relocation,” for The
Institute for Policy Research, University of Cincinnati and The Greater
Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce, with Byron Miller.
PRESENTATIONS
2009 “Working the Phones: Laboring in the Service Sector as a Call Center Agent” presentation at the Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting, Las Vegas, NV, March, with Perry Carter.
2008 Keynote Panelist, International Contact Center Management, Toronto, Canada, October.
2008 “Call Centers and Economic Development,” at the New South Economic
Development Conference, Gulfport, MS, September, scheduled.
2008 “Gazing Across the Color Line: White visitors to Southern Heritage Sites” presentation at the Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting, Boston, MA, April, with Perry Carter and Own Dwyer.
2007 “Tourism Plantations - Racialized Spaces and Unexpected Results” Presentation at the Association for the Study of African-American Life and History, Charlotte, NC, October.
2007 “Call Centers and Development” presentation at the New South Economic Development Course, Biloxi, MS, September.
2007 “Viewing Historical Sites through the Gaze of the ‘Other’” presentation at the Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, April, with Perry Carter and Own Dwyer.
2007 I'm sorry, can you please repeat that?, India and the call center phenomena, Presented to Mississippi University for Women's International Series, February 2007
2006 Keynote Panelist, International Contact Center Management, Toronto, Canada, October.
2006 “Call Centers and Economic Development,” at the New South Economic
Development Conference, Jackson, MS, September.
2006 “Call Center Alignment with Headquarters: Bridging the Chasm,” International Contact Center Management, Chicago, IL, August.
2006 “State of the Industry Report 2006-Finding Your Center and Its Position
within the Dynamic Industry,” International Quality & Productivity Center Call Center Week, Las Vegas, NV, June.
2006 “An Example of How Communities Can use Broadband to bring
Employment to their Communities,” at the Annual Rural Development
Conference, Oxford, MS, May.
2006 “Nation-States and Sovereignty” at the Global Policy and Development
Conference: Nation-State Building in the Contemporary International System, Norfolk, VA, April.
2006 “The Increasing Demand that Slavery be Represented at the Laura
Plantation” at the Society for the Study of Southern Literature
Conference, Birmingham, AL, March.
2006 “Virtual Doctoral Student Communities” presentation at the Association
of American Geographers Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, March.
2006 “Virtual Learning Communities in Higher Education” panel at the
Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL,
March.
2006 Presentation at the Global Policy and Development Conference 2005:
Nation Building and Sustainment Operations, Norfolk, VA, March/April.
2006 “Call Centers and Economic Development,” at the New South Economic
Development Conference, Jackson, MS, January.
2005 “State of the Industry,” Invited Presentation to the Middle Tennessee Call
Center Alliance, Nashville, TN, July.
2005 “Call Centers as a core competency within an organization,” Invited
Presentation to Omega Management Group, SCORE Conference, Boston, MA, April.
2005 “Losing the Customer” Invited Presentation to the ASMI Call Center
Performance Conference, American Strategic Management Institute,
Orlando, FL, March.
2004 “Staying Competitive in a Globalizing Industry,” at the Gulf South Call Center Conference, keynote address, Gulfport, MS, October.
2004 3 workshops at the Gulf South Call Center Conference, Gulfport, MS, October.
2004 American Conference Institute, invited speaker, Offshore Outsourcing,
New York City, NY, October.
2004 “Report on Call Center Outsourcing,” Managing Globalization: The Role of the Business and the State, Gulfport, MS, October.
2004 “Losing the Customer,” Invited Presentation to the National Quality Review Annual Meeting, invited speaker, Boston, MA, September.
2004 “From the Plantation to the Chateaux: A Comparison of Cross-Atlantic
Tourism Patterns” Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting,
Philadelphia, PA, March.
2004 “Findings from field research at three chateaux in June 2003” to selected business and political delegations at the Abbey in Pontlevoy, France, January 28th.
2003 “The Gendered Construction of Interpersonal Power in Political Office,” International Applied Business Research Conference, March, with Sara Kimmel.
2003 “Tourism Plantation Research at the Laura Plantation,” USM Summer
Faculty Research Grant Poster Session, Hattiesburg, MS, April.
2003 “The Tourists’ Desires: De-linking Agricultural Production and
Consumption at Historical U.S. Antebellum Plantations, Association of
American Geographers Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, March.
2002 “Travel Agents and US Airlines” presentation to the Commonwealth
Business Travel Group, New York City, NY, November.
2002 “Information Control and the United States Airline Industry,”
a presentation before the National Commission to Ensure Consumer Information and Choice in the Airline Industry, Washington DC, July.
2002 “Nature-Technology: A False Dichotomy?” Association of American
Geographers Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, CA, March.
2001 “Call centers, Economic Development and Dispersed Economic Activity:
A Study of Albuquerque, New Mexico,” Applied Geography Conference,
Fort Worth, TX, November.
2001 “Concentration, Dispersion, Networks and IT: A Case Study of Call
Centers in the United States,” Digital Communities 2001 Conference,
Chicago, IL, November.
2001 “Pink Collar Ghettos?: Women, Call Centers and Dispersed Economic
Activity,” Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting, New York, NY, February.
2001 Organizer for a session on “De-Agglomeration, Dispersion, Networks, IT
and the Local-Global Nexus” at the Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting, New York, NY, February.
2000 “Patience, Perseverance, Contacts and a Fax Machine: Obtaining
Corporate Interviews in Research,” Cincinnati Critical Conference, Cincinnati, OH, October.
2000 Co-Organizer for six sessions on “Race, Space, Place and Environment” at the Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA, April, with Perry Carter.
2000 “Whitewashing Plantations: The Commodification and Social Creation of
a Slave-Free Antebellum South,” Association of American Geographers
Annual Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA, April.
1999 “Homesteading in the New Millennium: Commercialization versus Territorial Sovereignty in Space,” International Studies Conference-South Annual Meeting, Lexington, KY, November.
1999 “Whitewashing Plantations: The Commodification and Social Creation of
a Slave-Free Antebellum South,” Cincinnati Critical Conference,
Cincinnati, OH, October.
1999 “Telecommunications, Flexible Accumulation, and Pink Collar Ghettos,”
Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting, Honolulu, Hawaii, March.
1998 “Space Technogeopolitics,” University of Cincinnati Colloquium,
Cincinnati, OH, October.
1998 “Telecommunications in the Airline Industry,” Association of American
Geographers Annual Meeting, Boston, MA, March.
1996 “Civil Aviation and Technogeopolitics,” Association of American
Geographers Annual Meeting, Charlotte, NC, March.
FUNDING AWARDED
2008 SERRI Oak Ridge, “Modeling Micro-Economic Resilience and Restoration after a Large-Scale Catastrophe: An Analysis of the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina,” $932,766, start date 1 June 2009, 2 year project.
2007 “Continuation of the MDES Call Center as a Virtual WIN Job Center,” Mississippi Department of Employment Security, $100,000.
2006 “The creation of MDES Call Center as a Virtual WIN Job Center,” Mississippi Department of Employment Security, $70,000.
2004 “Development of the Call Center Study in Mississippi,” Mississippi Development Authority (MDA), $30,000.
2004 “Development of the Call Center Research Laboratory,” USM Research Foundation, $2,000.
2003 US Department of Commerce, Small Business Administration, $1,987,000, wrote the proposal for the earmark.
2003 USM Title III Laptop Faculty Technology Mentor Award, $2500 and a laptop computer.
2002-2003 USM Lucas Endowment for Faculty Excellence, $3600
2002 USM Summer Faculty Research Grant, $8000-won but had to decline.
2002 USM Summer Grant for the Improvement of Instruction, $9250
1999-2001 US Department of Transportation Dwight David Eisenhower Doctoral
Research Fellowship, $48,000.
2001 Urban Geography Specialty Group Travel Grant Award, $50.
2001 University of Cincinnati Summer Research Fellowship, $1700.
1999 The Image of Cincinnati Project, Contract from The Institute for Policy
Research, University of Cincinnati, $2250.
1999 Robert Bruce McNee Award, Outstanding Graduate Student, University of
Cincinnati, $1000.
1999 Economic Geography Specialty Group Travel Grant Award,
$100.
1999 Urban Geography Specialty Group Travel Grant Award, $200.
1999 Association of American Geographers Travel Grant Award,
$200.
1998 GIS Certificate from ESRI
1998 Urban Geography Specialty Group Travel Grant Award, $50.
year.
EXTERNAL FUNDING SCHEDULED/PENDING
2008 US Department of Commerce, “Mapping an Industry
Commerce: Call Centers” $10,000,000 March submission.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPENT
2004-present President, Butler and Associates, Inc. - A University of Southern
Mississippi M.U.R.A. Company
2007-2009 Worked with Mississippi based companies on call center development.
PHD COMMITTEES
Graduated
2008 Greg Banach-member-graduated
2008 Tim Saur-chair of committee-graduated
2007 Billy Morehead-chair of committee-graduated
2007 Shannon Campbell-committee member-graduated
2007 Eli Biron-committee member-graduated
2007 Deena Burris-committee member-graduated
2006 Mary Catherine Colley-committee member-graduated
2006 Angie Wood-committee member-graduated
2005 Brian Mitchell-committee member-graduated
2005 Jennifer Foil-committee member-graduated
2004 Kola Garber-committee member-graduated
2004 Gerry Yaw-committee member-graduated
2004 Sue Lowe-committee member-graduated
2004 Garrett Harper-committee member-graduated
2003 Heather Annulis-committee member-graduated
2003 Bill Hettinger-chair of committee-graduated
2003 Patti Phillips-committee member-graduated
2002 Jud Edwards-committee member-graduated
2002 Sara Kimmel-committee member-graduated
Committee Chair
2009 Josefer Montes
2009 Wendell Robbins III
Committee Member
2009 Gregg Lassen
2009 Martha Norman
2009 Juanyce Deanna Taylor
2009 Sumesh Arora
2009 Ethan Joella
2009 Mark Turner
2009 Ranjana Srevatsan
2009 Holly Burkett
TEACHING
2009 International Development-Field Research I-Summer, Grant release time, no teaching.
2009 International Development-Qualitative Methods-Spring.
2008 International Development-Comparative International Political Development-Fall
2008 International Development-Qualitative Methods-Fall
2008 International Development-Colloquium: Technology and Development-Summer
2008 International Development-Field Research I-Summer
2008 International Development-Qualitative Methods-Spring
2007 International Development- Fall-Grant release time, no teaching.
2007 International Development-China Research Abroad-China, summer.
2007 International Development-Practicum, spring.
2007 International Development-Field Research I, spring.
2006 International Development-Fall-Grant release time, no teaching.
2006 International Development-Field Research II, Spring
2006 International Development-Administration and Grantsmanship, Spring
2005 International Development: Theory-Fall-2 sections
2005 International Development: Field Research I: Quantitative
2005 International Development: Research Abroad-Summer
2005 Economic Development: Special Topics/Independent Study-Summer
2005 International Development: Grantsmanship, Spring
2005 International Development: Practicum, Spring
2004 International Development: Current Issues-Fall (Team teaching with
Miller, Von Herrmann, Malone, Gaudet, Lansford)
2004 International Development: Field Research-Fall
2004 International Development: Practicum-Fall
2004 International Development: Research Abroad-Summer
2004 International Development: Grantsmanship-Spring
2004 International Development: Field Research-Spring
2004 International Development: Practicum-Spring
2003 International Development: Theory and Practice
2003 International Development: Field Research
2003 International Development: Practicum
2003 International Development: Field Research
2002 Introduction to Economic Development Research
2002 International Development: Theory and Practice
2002 International Development: Field Research
2002 International Development: Field Research
2002 International Development: Research Methods
2002 International Development: Grantsmanship
2001 International Development: Theory and Practice
2001 International Development: Current Issues
2001 Political Geography-USM, Fall
2001 Political Geography-University of Cincinnati
2001 People and Environment: Energy- University of Cincinnati
2000 Urban Geography-Historical- University of Cincinnati
2000 Political Geography- University of Cincinnati
1999 Human Geography: Population- University of Cincinnati
1999 Human Geography: Urban-Economic- University of Cincinnati
1999 People and Environment: Agriculture and Food- University of Cincinnati
1999 Human Geography: Population- University of Cincinnati
1999 Physical Geography Lab- University of Cincinnati
1998 People and Environment: Population- University of Cincinnati
1998 Human Geography: Cultural and Political- University of Cincinnati
1998 Human Geography: Population- University of Cincinnati
1998 Physical Geography Lab- University of Cincinnati
1997 People and Environment: Population- University of Cincinnati
1997 World Regional Geography: Americas- University of Cincinnati
1997 World Regional Geography: Asia- University of Cincinnati
1997 Human Geography: Urban-Economic- University of Cincinnati
1996 Physical Geography Lab-Texas A&M University
1995 Physical Geography Lab, 2 sections-Texas A&M University
FACULTY DEVELOPMENT
2007-present Mentor for Edward Sayre, assistant professor in department
2008 Mentor for J. J. St. Marie, assistant professor in department
2003 National Science Foundation New Faculty Development Workshop,
Boulder, CO, June.
2000-2002 Preparing Future Faculty Program-Universities of Cincinnati and
Kentucky.
FIELD RESEACH PROJECTS
2007 China Research Abroad-summer
2005 Belize Research Abroad Program-Summer.
2001-2008 Ongoing Call Center survey research projects
2004 Irish Research Abroad Program, May-June
2003 Creator and Director of the Research Abroad Program at USM. France field research data collection with graduate students, June.
2002 Field research tourism project for the Laura Plantation in Vacherie, LA,
April.
SERVICE
2008-2009 Nominated by the College of Arts and Letters for the university Innovative Applied Research Award, did not win.
2008-2009 Member of the College of Arts and Letters Research Committee
2008 Expert Testimony before the US House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce, regarding HR 1776 “Call Center Right To Know” bill, September 11.
2008 Draft writer of the International Development Doctoral Program External Review Response
2008-2009 Member of the Department Governance Committee
2008-2009 Department faculty representative on the College Advisory Committee (2008-2011).
2008 Offered advice to Tulio and Andrew for their MURA company.
2008 Created special collections for International Development at the Southern Miss Gulfpark Library
2008 Created a marketing plan for the International Development Program including primary data collection from students and alumni
2008 Redrafted department level graduate handbook with Marek Steedman.
2007 Reviewer for the Economic and Social Research Council (UK) Fellowship Awards.
2007 Buff Blount Endowed Chair advisory board member.
2007 Department focus groups for capstone Political Science majors.
2006 Worked with the USM Foundation on the formation and development of a call center for the annual fund.
2006 Worked with the USM Athletic Department on the formation and development of a call center policy for ticket sales.
2005 Founder, journal Horizons: The Journal of Global Policy and Development
2005-present Founding Director, Association for Global Policy and Development-a membership organization.
2005-present Founding editor, In Queue: The official newsletter of the National Association of Call Centers.
2004-present Founding Executive Director, National Association of Call Centers-A not-for-profit membership organization.
2004-2006 Mississippi World Trade Center Advisor Board Member-nominated
2004-2005 Assistant Vice-President for Research and Economic Development Search
Committee
2004-2005 Department Chair search committee, Department of Political Science,
International Development and International Affairs.
2003-2005 Chair, International Development Curriculum Review and Revision
Committee
2004 Organizer of panel session “Planning for a career in the academy I:
Obtaining and excelling on job interviews” Association of
American Geographers Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, March.
2003-2004 Proposal Reviewer, National Science Foundation, International Research Fellowship Program
2003 Journal reviewer Tourism Research
2002-2003 Journal reviewer Annals of Tourism Research
2003 Member of the CBED AACSB committee.
2003 Member of the 2003 Honor’s College Presidential Scholarship
Competition interview team
2003 College of International and Continuing Education representative to the
University Research Committee
2003 Member of the dean search committee-College of Business and Economic
Development.
2003 Co-Sponsor of “River Road Plantations: Re-telling the Story of the Old
South,” Fieldtrip, AAG New Orleans, March.
2002 Volunteer Facilitator for Strategic Planning, Center for Community and
Civic Engagement, October.
2002 Ad Hoc member of the USM Graduate Council
2002-2003 Member of the USM University Research Committee
2001-2003 Dissertation Committee Chair/Committee Member for IDV students
2002 College of International and Continuing Education representative for the
USM United Way Campaign
MEMBERSHIP
2004-present Founding member of the National Association of Call Centers (NACC)
1993-present Association of American Geographers (AAG)
1994-2002 National Council on Geographic Education (NCGE)
1999-2001 Society for the History of Technology (SHOT)
1997-2001 Institute of British Geographers (IBG)
1997-2001 Canadian Association of Geographers (CAG)
1998-1999 President of the Graduate Student Governance Association for Geography
1996-1997 Vice-President for the Graduate Student Governance Association for
Geography