SPRING 2024 WCSC SEMINAR (WCSC 387 & SOC 375)
Section outline
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How do you get to know a city? What lenses do you use? Meeting DC’s history and present as guests this semester.
Listen:
Johnson, J. (2016, May 11). Anacostia Unmapped: The Nacotchtank and the First Gentrifiers. WAMU.
Read:
Mathuria, S. (2019, March 28). Place & privilege: Telling stories about places that aren’t yours. Progressive City.
Overly, S., Smith-Barrow, D., O’Donnell, K., & Li, M. (2022, April 15). Washington Was an Icon of Black Political Power. Then Came Gentrification. POLITICO.
(Read only pp. 37-41.) Verloo, N. (2020). Urban ethnography and participant observations: Studying the city from within. In N. Verloo & L. Bertolini (Eds.), Seeing the City: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Study of the Urban (pp. 37-55). Amsterdam University Press. -
What drives change in the city? Is it about culture or is it about profit?
Read:
Kashino, M. M. (2018, April 4). The reinvention of 14th Street: A history. Washingtonian.
(Read only pp. 724-738.) Zukin, S. (2008). Consuming authenticity: From outposts of difference to means of exclusion. Cultural Studies, 22(5), 724–748.
(Read only pp. 196-202.) Smith, N. (1984/2008). A Seesaw Theory of Uneven Development. In Uneven Development: Nature, Capital, and the Production of Space. University of Georgia Press.
Submit by 11am:
Response blog RSI-1: What drivers of change stand out to you in these accounts? Who is involved? Contrast Zukin and Smith’s perspectives. (250 words)
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We see racial difference reflected in space, but does geography produce racial identities?
Watch:
Housing Segregation and Redlining in America: A Short History. (2018, April 11). Code Switch from NPR.
Read:
Butler, S. M. & Grabinsky, J. (2015, March 24). Segregation and concentrated poverty in the nation’s capital. Brookings.
Rothstein, R. (2015, March 30). Should we force integration on those who don’t want it?, and other commonplace questions about race relations. Economic Policy Institute.
Delaney, D. (2002). The space that race makes. The Professional Geographer, 54(1), 6–14.
Submit by 11am:
1) Response blog RSI-2: Explain how living and working in segregated spaces could shape somebody’s understandings of what race means: the significance of their own racial identity as well as the racial identities of others? Delaney and other geographers argue that the spatial organization of our society produces and perpetuates racial privilege and inequality. Do you agree? If so, how does that work? (250 words)
2) Neighborhood case study initial visit report (RS&I)
3) Select topic for CD org profile (CD)
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Why does housing cost so much in DC? Who does this hurt and what can we do about it?
Read:
Wogan, J. B. (2015, February). Why D.C.’s affordable housing protections are losing a war with economics. Governing.
DC’s Affordable Housing Toolbox: Key Housing Programs and How To Make Them Better. (2019, April 11). DC Fiscal Policy Institute.
Homelessness in DC is on the rise. What should the city do about it? (2023, May 17). Street Sense Media.
Submit by 11am:
1) Response blog CD-1: Why are housing costs so out of control in DC? What strategies described in these readings seem most promising to you? Whose responsibility is it to make housing more affordable? Whose responsibility is it to help people who are unhoused? (250 words)
In class
Speaker: Miya Morris, Director of Resident Services, Jubilee Housing
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Theater performance: Las Hermanas Palacios at GALA Hispanic Theatre (8pm)
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What is the difference between honoring history and exploiting it? What story is being told in the branding of a new business or new development?
Read:
Crockett, Jr, S. A. (2012, August 3). The Brixton: It’s new, happening and another example of African-American historical “swagger-jacking.” The Washington Post.
Franke-Ruta, G. (2012, August 10). The Politics of the Urban Comeback: Gentrification and Culture in D.C. The Atlantic.
Summers, B. T. (2021). Race, Authenticity, and the Gentrified Aesthetics of Belonging in Washington, D.C. In C. Lindner & G. F. Sandoval (Eds.), Aesthetics of Gentrification: Seductive Spaces and Exclusive Communities in the Neoliberal City (pp. 115–136). Amsterdam University Press.
Submit by 11am:
1) Response blog RSI-3: What does Crockett mean by historical swagger-jacking? What is Franke-Ruta’s critique of Crockett? And how does Summers’ analysis relate to each of these arguments? What do you find most compelling in this set of perspectives? (250 words)
2) Las Hermanas Palacios response (RS&I)
3) Select CD org you will profile (CD)
In class:
Speaker: Awad Bilal, Tenant Organizer, Latino Econ. Development Ctr. -
Who controls the investments that grow our communities? Who controls the profits?
Watch:
About the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. (2023).
Own the change: Building economic democracy one worker co-op at a time. (2015).
Read:
Kimble, M. & Wagner, A. (2022, August 9). Can Anacostia Build a Bridge Without Displacing Its People? New York Times. (pdf printout)
Peiffer, E. (2023, February 22). The Promise and Pitfalls of the Washington, DC, Region’s Strong Capital Flows. Urban Institute.
Submit by 11am:
1) Response blog CD-2: What is your assessment of community wealth building strategies, including cooperative businesses and community land trusts? Why don’t we see more of this? (250 words)
2) Neighborhood case study progress report (RS&I)
In class:
Speaker: Catherine Crosby, Chief, Community Engagement & Institutional Accountability, National Community Reinvestment Coalition
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How do racism and other structural inequities shape our food system? In a rich country, why do so many people go hungry? What should we do about it?
Watch:
Soul Fire Farm (2016). Soul Fire Farm: Feeding the Soul, Growing Community.
Read:
Hunger Report 2023: Insights on food insecurity and inequity in the Greater Washington region. (2023). Capital Area Food Bank.
Sánchez, V. (2022, July 7). Black-owned stores work to end D.C.’s food deserts. The Washington Post. (pdf printout)
Massey, B. (2017, February 27). D.C.’s urban farms wrestle with gentrification and displacement. Civil Eats.
Submit by 11am:
1) Response blog CD-3: Food insecurity is both a reflection of other structural inequalities and a driver that helps perpetuate them. What approaches described in these readings and the video to decreasing food insecurity and making our food system more just do you find most compelling? (250 words)
2) CD org profile background research paper (CD)
In class:
Speaker: Charles Rominiyi, Program Mgr, The Well at Oxon Run, DC Greens
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Friday, February 23 (evening)
Theater performance: Tempestuous Elements at Arena Stage (8:00pm)
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What neighborhood is this? What makes community? And whose story is that to tell?
Read:
Hwang, J. (2016). The social construction of a gentrifying neighborhood: Reifying and redefining identity and boundaries in inequality. Urban Affairs Review, 52(1), 98–128.
Schweitzer, A. (2019, May 30). Some Say ‘East Of The River’ Has A Negative Connotation. Hello, ‘East End’? WAMU.
Flock, E. (2011, October 8). NoMa: The neighborhood now has a name, but it’s still searching for its identity. The Washington Post. (pdf printout)
Submit by 11am:
1) Response blog RSI-4: So what if people define a neighborhood in different ways and with different names? Do you think it matters? Why or why not? What significance does Hwang’s research ascribe to place definition of this kind? (250 words)
2) Tempestuous Elements response (RS&I)
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In the U.S., who do we see as the “deserving poor”—those who deserve our help? Who should pay for community development in places with inadequate resources?
Read:
Katz, M. (2013). Epilogue : What Kind of Problem is Poverty? In The Undeserving Poor: America’s Enduring Confrontation with Poverty, 2nd Edition (pp. 268-278). Oxford University Press.
Green, G. P., & Haines, A. (2016). A history of community development in America. In Asset Building & Community Development (pp. 32-56). Sage.
Gilmore, R.W. (2007). In the shadow of the shadow state. In The Revolution Will Not Be Funded: Beyond the Non-Profit Industrial Complex (pp. 41-52). Duke University Press.
Submit by 11am:
1) Response blog CD-4: In your opinion, what characterizes people or communities deserving of society’s help? Who should pay for community development in places with inadequate resources? (250 words) -
Submit by 11am:
1) CD organization profile and presentation (CD)
Bring to class:
1) Community needs map (CD)
In class:
Presentations of CD organization profiles and community need maps
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What is power? And how do we increase the power of a group of people?
Read:
Garza, A. (2020). Chapters 3-5: First Lessons, The First Fight, and Unite to Fight. In The Purpose of Power: How We Come Together When We Fall Apart (pp. 47-94). One World.
A Primer on Community Power, Place, and Structural Change. (2020). USC Dornsife Equity Research Institute.
Submit by 11am:
1) Response blog RSI-5: What most resonates with you from Alicia Garza’s story? How does she frame the work of community organizing? In what ways have you been involved in organizing in your life? (250 words)
Speaker: Kelly Iradukunda, Resource Organizer, ONE DC
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How is health shaped by where you live or by the color of your skin? Why?
Watch:
Jones, C. (2018, April 18). Dr. Camara Jones Explains the Cliff of Good Health. Urban Institute.
Read:
Dwyer, D. & Barthel, M. (2021, Oct 20). ‘We Are Literally Terrified Of Giving Birth’: The Road To Motherhood Is Different For Black Women Around D.C. DCist.
Barthel, M., Dwyer, D., & Gomez, A.M. (2022, Aug 18). ‘We Want Them To Feel Uplifted’: This Health Clinic Fills A Gap In Care For Pregnant People In Wards 7 And 8. DCist.
King, C. J., Buckley, B. O., Maheshwari, R., & Griffith, D. M. (2022). Race, Place, And Structural Racism: A Review of Health and History In Washington, D.C. Health Affairs, 41(2), 273–280.
Submit by 11am:
1) Response blog CD-5: Why do low-income communities and communities of color bear disproportionate health burdens in our society? Is it inevitable? What are the implications? (250 words)
2) Draft neighborhood case study (RS&I)
Speaker: Mariah Oates, Communications Manager, Mamatoto Village
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Why do poorer students and students of color have a hard time accessing quality public education? What should we be doing about it?
Read:
Hannah-Jones, N. (2014, December 19). School segregation, the continuing tragedy of Ferguson. ProPublica.
Stein, P. (2019, September 20). As cities gentrify and schools diversify, PTOs grapple to ensure all parent voices are heard. The Washington Post.(pdf printout)
Toch, T. (2019, March 20). The Lottery That’s Revolutionizing D.C. Schools. The Washington Post. (pdf printout)
Submit by 11am:
1) Response blog CD-6: What are the implications of racial segregation in our public school systems? How does DC’s school lottery seek to address these issues? What relationships might exist between school choice and gentrification? (250 words)
Speaker: Cathy Reilly, Executive Director, Senior High Alliance of Parents, Principals and Educators (S.H.A.P.P.E.) -
Whose place is this and who belongs here? How do you know?
Read:
Chason, R. (2017, July 21). Field wars: Organized league clashes with pickup players in a gentrifying neighborhood. The Washington Post. (pdf printout)
Moulden, D., Squires, G. D., & Theresa, A. (2018, Oct. 10). The right to stay put. Shelterforce.
Submit by 11am:
1) Response blog RSI-6: How do you know who belongs somewhere and who doesn’t? What gives somebody the right to stay put—or to keep playing soccer where and how they’ve been playing? Is it appropriate for a government to take steps to protect long-term residents from the displacing impact of gentrification and rising property values? Why? (250 words)
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TUESDAY
In class on Tuesday at 3pm:
Present Neighborhood case study. (RS&I)
THURSDAYSubmit by 11am on Thursday:
1) Final neighborhood case study. Submit on Moodle. (RS&I)