University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown
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  2. Ola Johansson, PhD

Ola Johansson, PhD

  • Professor of Geography

Courses:

  • Economic Geography (Geo 0130)
  • Geography of the United States (Geo 0320)
  • Earth and People (Geo 0200)
  • Political Geography (Geo 0800)
  • Population Analysis (Geo/Soc 1180)
  • Resource Management (Geo 1230)
  • Renewable Energy (Geo 1280)
  • Urban Planning (Geo 1050)
  • Natural Hazards (Geo 0270)
  • Sustainable Food and Agriculture (Geo 1030)
  • Special Topics (Geo 1420)
  • Directed Reading (Geo 1430)
  • Directed Research (Geo 1440)
  • Independent Study (Geo 1450)

Dr. Johansson also teaches a 6-credit study abroad course sequence in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, called Sustainable Cities I: Theories and Concepts (Urbnst 1613/Geo 1615) and Sustainable Cities II: Field Research (Urbnst 1615/Geo 1620). It will be offered next time in May 2026. Read more about the course at the Pitt Global Experiences webpage and Pitt in Amsterdam. 

Education & Training

  • BS (1994) Social and Economic Geography, Lund University, Sweden
  • MS (1996) Social and Economic Geography, Lund University, Sweden
  • PhD (2004) Geography, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN

Representative Publications

 

  • Johansson, O. 2025. Nordic Pop Music and World Englishes. In K. Bolton (ed.) The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of World Englishes. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

  • Johansson, O. 2024. Tourists, Residents, and Chickens in Urban Spaces: The Case of Ybor City. The Florida Geographer, 55: 71-93.

  • Guillard, S., Palis, J., and Johansson, O. 2024. New Geographies of Music 2: Music in Urban Tourism, Heritage Politics, and Place-making. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan.

  • Johansson, O. 2023. “A Songwriter’s Avalanche:” Nature and Creativity in Jason Ringenberg’s Stand Tall. GeoHumanities. 9(2): 500-523. 

  • Johansson, O., Guillard, S., and Palis, J. 2023. New Geographies of Music 1: Urban Policies, Live Music, and Careers in a Changing Industry. Palgrave-Macmillan.

  • Bell, T.L. and Johansson, O. 2021. “The Need for Swede:” How American Volvo Television Commercials Represent Sweden. PAST, 44: 1-16.

  • Johansson, O. 2020. Songs from Sweden: Shaping Pop Culture in a Globalized Music Industry. Palgrave Pivot Research Monograph Series.

  • Pulsipher, L., Pulsipher A. and Johansson, O. 2020. World Regional Geography: Global Patterns, Local Lives. 8th Ed. New York: Macmillan.

  • Johansson, O. and Cornebise, M. 2018. The Pennsylvania Town in the 21st Century: A Socio-Economic Analysis of the Built Environment. Material Culture, 50(1): 47-73.

  • Pulsipher, L., Pulsipher A. and Johansson, O. 2017. World Regional Geography: Global Patterns, Local Lives. 7th Ed. New York: Macmillan.

  • Johansson, O. and Cornebise, M. 2016. The Pennsylvania Town 40 Years Later: Preservation and Planning in a Changing Townscape. Middle States Geographer, 49: 43-54.

  • Johansson, O. 2016. Exploring Restaurant Review Websites as Indicators of the Entertainment City. Papers in Applied Geography, 2(4): 421-430.

  • Johansson, O., Gripshover, M. M., and Bell, T. L. 2016. Landscapes of Performance and Technological Change: Music Venues in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Nashville, Tennessee, pp. 114-129. In B. J. Hracs, M. Seman, T. Virani (eds.) The Production and Consumption of Music in the Digital Age. New York: Routledge.

  • Johansson, O. 2014. A Picture is Worth 1000 Words: The Collapse of Monument 15.029.2. FOCUS on Geography, 57(3): 135-136.

  • Johansson, O. and Bell, T. L. 2014. Touring Circuits and the Geography of Rock Music Performance. Popular Music and Society, 37(4): 313-337.

  • Johansson, O. 2013. Kent’s Sweden, or What a Rock Band Can Tell Us about a Nation. Fennia, 191(1): 40-57.

  • Johansson, O. 2012. Svensk rockmusik – en hybrid i världen. [Swedish Rock Music: A Global Hybrid.] STM-Online [The Swedish Journal of Musicology – Online Edition], volume 15.

  • Johansson, O. 2011. The Spatial Diffusion of Green Building Technologies: The Case of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) in the United States. International Journal of Technology Management and Sustainable Development, 10(3): 251-266.

  • Johansson, O. 2010. Beyond ABBA: The Globalization of Swedish Popular Music. FOCUS on Geography, 53(4): 134-141.

  • Johansson, O. 2010. Regulation Theory. In Warf, B. (Ed.) Encyclopedia of Geography (p. 2400-2403). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

  • Johansson, O. and Cornebise, M. 2010. Place Branding Goes to the Neighborhood: The Case of Pseudo-Swedish Andersonville. Geografiska Annaler B: Human Geography, 92(3): 187-204.

  • Johansson, O. 2010. Form, Function, and the Development of Music-Themed Entertainment Districts in Nashville and Memphis. Material Culture, 42(1): 47-69.

  • Johansson, O. 2010. From Entrepreneurialism to Social Regulation: Nashville’s Business Elite and Local Education. Southeastern Geographer, 50(1): 39-57.

  • Johansson, O. and Bell, T. L. (Eds.) 2009. Sound, Society, and the Geography of Popular Music. Farnham (UK): Ashgate Publishing.

  • Johansson, O. and Bell, T. L. 2009. Where are the New US Music Scenes? In

  • Johansson and Bell (Eds) Sound, Society, and the Geography of Popular Music. Farnham (UK): Ashgate Publishing.

  • Johansson, O. 2007. Air Emissions from Coal Transportation in the United States since the Clean Air Act Amendment of 1990. The Wisconsin Geographer, 22: 40-59.

  • Johansson, O. 2007. Ten People Can’t Run This City Anymore: Neoliberalism and Governance Change in Nashville Circa 1987-1999. Southeastern Geographer, 47(2): 298-319.

  • Johansson, O. 2007. Inter-Urban Competition and Air Transport in the Deregulated Era: The Nashville Case. Journal of Transport Geography, 15(5): 368-379.

Research Interests

Dr. Ola Johansson is a professor of geography who joined the Pitt-Johnstown faculty in 2002, coming from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. There, he also worked as a transportation analyst at Tennessee Valley Authority. His current research mainly focuses on music geography, including local scenes, music and urban development, music and national identity, and touring patterns. Dr. Johansson has also been a guest scholar at Linnaeus University in Kalmar, Sweden and at the University of the Philippines, Diliman. He is the author of Songs from Sweden: Shaping Pop Culture in a Globalized Music Industry (https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-15-2736-4), co-author of the textbook World Regional Geography (https://www.macmillanlearning.com/college/us/product/World-Regional-Geography/p/1319048048), editor of the Pennsylvania Geographer (https://thepgs.org/Pennsylvania_Geographer), and a review board member of the Journal of Geographical Research.

Division

Social Science Division

Academic Programs

Environmental Sustainability
Geography