Mapping Race and Urban Ecologies

Collaborative Engagements with Critical Geography, Urban Studies, and Digital Humanities

Abstract

“Race and Urban Ecologies” served as the organizing theme for a course that adopted socio-spatial strategies to explore connections among racial justice and ecological flourishing. Drawing from approaches in the fields of critical geography, urban studies, and digital humanities—and taking inspiration from scholars and community members who use interdisciplinary methods to reimagine processes of knowledge production and community engagement—students worked together to create interactive digital maps. These maps contribute to the ongoing project of developing collective research practices and building a digital archive that examines intersecting injustices that impact marginalized communities while also reflecting community visions and struggles for livable and just geographies. Course research and cartography offered generative modes for deepening understandings of diverse communities and envisioning some of the spaces and politics we inhabit collectively.