Euan Hague is an urban and cultural geographer whose work explores the politics of place. He completed a BSc in Geography and MA in Cultural Studies in his native United Kingdom, before emigrating to the United States to pursue a Ph.D. in Geography at Syracuse University. His publications explore a range of topics, from Confederate commemoration, white racial identities, and neo-Confederate nationalism, to cultural relationships between Scotland and America, gentrification, and urban activism. Hague's scholarship on Scottish-American perceptions of Scotland formed the basis of his Ph.D. research and led to subsequent articles exploring topics as diverse as the 1995 film "Braveheart," Highland Games and Scottish Festivals held in the USA, and popular historical romance fiction set in Scotland and written by US authors (such as Diana Gabaldon's "Outlander"). This work highlights the persistence and popularity in the American public imagination of a historical and stereotypical Scotland, perspectives that have been challenged by recent political debates in Scotland over the possibility of independence from the United Kingdom.
Hague’s interest in how Scotland was represented in the United States led to a focus on neo-Confederate organizations and their nationalist ideologies. These groups, many of which formed in the early-1990s, advanced understandings of Scotland and Scottish history that rejected current scholarship in favor of a mythic valorization of the country and its people, politically appropriating the concept of “Celtic” identity and ethnicity. Hague’s examinations of this radical fringe of US right wing politics means is collected in Neo-Confederacy: A Critical Introduction (University of Texas, 2008)and was reprised in a blog post “Making America Confederate Again.” He was invited to explore this topic on Politico on the 150th anniversary of the end of the US Civil War in his essay “Why The Confederacy Lives”.
In Chicago, Hague regularly works with DePaul’s Steans Center for Community-based Service Learning to engage in research and collaboration with local organizations. His long-held partnership with the Pilsen Alliance to examine issues of housing and gentrification explores how Chicago's cultural and urban landscapes have developed historically and are continuing to change. This research produced a bilingual art exhibition that examined urban development processes in Pilsen between 2000 and 2005. The exhibition traveled throughout Chicago and was invited for display in Toronto, leading to Hague and his collaborators producing a short web-publication, Contested Chicago: Pilsen and Gentrification in 2008. Continuing this work, and to coincide with the American Association of Geographers conference in Chicago in 2015 at which her served as the Chair of the Local Arrangements Committee, Hague examined Chicago’s North Burling Street, 2005-2015: From Public Housing to Mega-mansions and Pilsen – The Gentrification Frontier. Alongside DePaul faculty Larry Bennett and Roberta Garner, Hague continued this exploration of urban change in "Neoliberal Chicago" (University of Illinois, 2017). At DePaul, Hague served as Chair of the Department of Geography from 2009-2018, and was one of the leaders in devising and delivering DePaul's innovative interdisciplinary MA in Sustainable Urban Development, which graduated its first students in 2015. In 2016, DePaul's Department of Geography was honored by the American Association of Geographers with its award for Bachelors Program Excellence. He has also served as Chair of the West Lakes Division of the American Association of Geographers. Hague was appointed Director of the School of Public Service in 2018.
Hague believes that it is important to introduce early-career undergraduate students to geographical concepts and perspectives wit which few are familiar. As a result he focuses his teaching at the introductory level, regularly teaching gateway disciplinary courses on Urbanization and Cultural Geography, and Explore Chicago, bringing to freshman students the complex urban geographies of Chicago. He received DePaul's Excellence in Teaching Award in 2010 and was recognized by the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities with its 2019 Barbara A. Holland Scholar-Administrator Award. His subsequent essay for CUMU’s journal, Metropolitan Universities, emphasized the importance of pedagogy that engages the community.
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