Mapping Gentrification

Description of Course Goals and Curriculum

The course was about understanding the meaning of gentrification and all the nuances it might have in different contexts. We tried to answer the questions below by looking at various cities in the United States.  

• What is gentrification?
• What does it look like as a process?
• What causes it?
• Who do we consider gentrifiers?
• Who do we consider the gentrified?

  As we worked through cities, we had a basis for comparison, which nuanced our understanding of gentrification. Alongside the theoretical piece, we developed technical skills using GIS. We learned how to map through tutorials and eventually utilized this skills to visualize and explain gentrification.

Learning From Classroom Instruction

The course was a seminar with assigned readings for each class. We had to write a response to the readings for one seminar (out of the two) per week. Each seminar, we had student discussion leaders that worked through the readings. These discussion leaders tended to bring handouts with pertinent quotes, links to past readings, and questions.

Learning For and From Assignments

In terms of reading, understanding the main argument that an author makes was extremely useful, as we had to utilize these arguments in our own papers. Readings were key to class discussions, and annotating to identify arguments/ key examples/ points very specifically related to gentrification was important. For reading responses, it was helpful to use reading responses as a way to stay on top of the reading. Mapping projects were a combination of technical skills and theory. We chose our own topics and consulted the professor, so choosing something substantively interesting to you is possible! There is a lot of help available (from the professor and external resources). Although theoretical ideas are plenty in the readings, the mapping part can be difficult/ you can run into a lot of bugs, so it's helpful to start early. For maps, it is helpful to look at the rubric as a checklist and make sure you are fulfilling that checklist. Reflective midterm and final papers that are meant to connect your map to the course readings as well as gentrification. Make sure to cite and utilize course readings effectively and extensively (more so than external resources that you use). For these reflections, it is also helpful to look at the rubric as a checklist and make sure you are fulfilling that checklist.  

External Resources

The GIS librarian at the Lewis Library is really helpful! It can also be useful to Google how to do certain things in ArcMap.

What Students Should Know About This Course For Purposes Of Course Selection

This course will help you learn the basics of GIS. It will also help you assess your impact on cities that you live in (and is useful outside of an academic context). There is a lot of reading but you utilize it in your papers (as well as discuss it in seminar).