Race, Place, and Space Series

Race, Place, and Space is a new series, co-hosted by the Boston University Initiative on Cities (IOC), the BU Arts Initiative, and BU Diversity & Inclusion (D&I), that focuses on the ways in which racial and ethnic groups access, inhabit, occupy, shape, and are memorialized in urban contexts—as well as the ways their contemporary and historical contributions have been made invisible, disregarded, or denigrated.

Upcoming Events

Members of the BU community can submit proposals for the series using this form. More events are in development, so check back soon!

Past Events

Click on an event below to learn more. Links to recordings and summaries of past events will be included if they are available.

How Culture and Creativity Build Power in Communities of Color

Held on Tuesday, March 15, 2022
Watch a recording, read a summary, and view highlights of the event.

The Boston University Initiative on Cities, the BU Arts Initiative, and the BU City Planning & Urban Affairs Program hosted a discussion with Boston’s community leaders to explore the impact that culture and creativity make in places:

Tania Fernandes Anderson, Boston City Councilor, District 7; former Executive Director, Bowdoin Geneva Main Streets
Michael Monestime, Business Strategy and Development, Morningside Real Estate Group, Founding partner of Starlight Square.
Anita Morson-Matra, Creative Entrepreneur and Founder, Baldwin in the Park & Nubian Nights

Moderated by F. Philip Barash, City Planning and Urban Affairs Program, Boston University

Place Names, Boundaries, and Real-World Impacts: The Story of Upper Roxbury

Held on Wednesday, March 2, 2022
Watch a recording, read a summary, and view highlights of the event.

What’s in a name? Why have place names and geographical boundaries changed over time, and how have they resulted in significant real-world changes in communities of color? How has informal place naming by activists and others countered urban planners’ top-down decisions?

The BU Initiative on Cities and the Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library hosted a discussion with experts:

Byron Rushing, Former MA State Representative; President, Roxbury Historical Society
Madeline Webster, PhD Candidate, American & New England Studies, Boston University
Yawu Miller, Senior Editor, Bay State Banner

Moderated by Garrett Dash Nelson, President & Head Curator, Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center

Punishing Places: The Geography of Mass Imprisonment

Held on Wednesday, November 17, 2021
Watch a recording, read a summary, and view highlights of the event.

Jessica Simes, Assistant Professor of Sociology, discussed her new book, Punishing Places: The Geography of Mass Imprisonment. Co-Director Katharine Lusk and Simes discussed her findings that describe in unprecedented detail the consequences of mass incarceration for neighborhoods and communities in the United States. Simes then fielded questions from the audience and discussed urgent implications for policy reforms aimed at ameliorating the community effects of mass incarceration and promoting alternatives to the carceral system.

The Urban/Suburban Educational Divide: Racial Inequities and Shifting Landscapes

Held on Wednesday, May 19, 2021
Watch a recording of the event.

This event, co-sponsored by the Wheelock Educational Policy Center (WEPC) featured a discussion of efforts to ensure students have access to a great education, and why integration efforts to close the urban-suburban divide leave some students caught in between, while others are stuck on one side.

Speakers:

John Rury, Professor Emeritus, University of Kansas School of Education and Human Sciences; and author of Creating the Suburban School Advantage: Race, Localism, and Inequality in an American Metropolis
Milly Arbaje-Thomas, President & CEO, Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity (METCO)
Cliff Chuang, Senior Associate Commissioner for Educational Options at the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Telling the Untold History of Civil Rights Leaders in Boston

Held on Wednesday, April 21, 2021
Watch a recording and read a summary of the event.

This event explored untold Boston histories of Coretta Scott King, Martin Luther King Jr., Sue Bailey Thurman, and other local activists—and the work being done to further tell their stories. Learn about the formative partnership of Coretta Scott and Martin Luther King Jr, gain insight into the creation of digital exhibits inspired by the life and love of Sue Bailey Thurman and Howard Thurman, and hear about the fight for Black Studies on Boston University’s campus.

Speakers:

Paula Austin, Assistant Professor of History & African American Studies at Boston University
Roberto Mighty, a multimedia artist, filmmaker, photographer, sound designer, and musician.
Jessie Rubenstein, an exhibition designer and Lecturer in Art & Graphic Design at BU.

Boston's Chinatown: Community, Power, and Placemaking

Held on Thursday, April 15, 2021
Watch a recording and read a summary of the event.

Experts and community activists discussed the legacy of Boston’s Chinatown neighborhood, community, urban expansion, displacement, public health, and the birth of the Pao Arts Center.

Speakers:

Núrí Chandler-Smith, Dean of Academic Support and College Pathway Programs, Bunker Hill Community College.
Angie Liou, Executive Director, Asian Community Development Center.
Heang Rubin, Chair, Friends of the Chinatown Library, Assistant Professor of Public Health and Community Medicine, Tufts University.
Cynthia Woo, Director, Pao Arts Center, Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center.
Moderated by Ben Hires (CAS ’00, STH ’03, MET ’08), CEO of Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center.

Coming of Age in Jim Crow DC: Navigating the Politics of Everyday Life

Held on Wednesday, February 3, 2021
Watch a recording and read a summary of the event.

The first event in the Race, Place, and Space series featured Paula Austin, Assistant Professor of History and African American Studies, for a discussion of her book, Coming of Age in Jim Crow DC: Navigating the Politics of Everyday Life.

Drawing on passages from the book and its historical context, Austin discussed the everyday lives of young Black people in Washington DC during the 1930s, a period marked by racial, economic, and political segregation.