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Description: |
This course provides an introduction to the key concepts and theories in the field of Black Geographies. We will draw on a range of interdisciplinary texts to explore how Black communities continue to shape and interact with space, place, and the environment. In doing so, we will pay particular attention to Black place making, memory work, and spatial politics. In addition, we will explore how the field of Black Geographies provides us with tools to further understand political struggles against legacies of anti-Blackness, enslavement, colonialism, carcerality, and policing. This course has three main areas of focus: First, we will read foundational texts in order to establish a shared basis for what constitutes Black Geographies, as well as the origins of the field of study. Next, we will work through key branches of Black Geographies, with focus areas that include racial capitalism; plantation logics; diaspora; gender and sexuality; food; ecology, carcerality and policing; and urban space. Lastly, drawing on Ruth Wilson Gilmore’s premise that “freedom is a place”, we will explore the transformative visions of Abolition Geography. |