Lived Experiences of Boston Youth During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Principal Investigator: Co-Principal Investigator: While the COVID pandemic has disrupted the education of all U.S. youth, it has disproportionately impacted racially and linguistically minoritized youth. Within the Boston Public Schools, the latest report shows that 30% of Black students and 31% of Latinx students are chronically absent compared with 12% of White students. Similarly, 30% […]
Examining Dually-Involved Black, Indigenous, and Youth of Color’s Reentry Experiences in Massachusetts
Principal Investigator: Co-Principal Investigator: Youth involved with child welfare system (CWS) are entering the juvenile justice system (JJS) at rates far higher than their peers, and Black, Indigenous, and Youth of Color (BIYOC) represent a disproportionate percentage of youth with dual-involvement. Scholarship on dual-involvement focuses on youth demographics and their experiences within the CWS and […]
Race and Policing in America’s Cities: The Role of Mayors
Principal Investigator: Co-Principal Investigators: Scholars of urban politics have long noted the limited power of mayors to address racial inequality. In recent decades, state governments and the federal government have curtailed the policymaking authority of urban administrations while also reducing funding sent to urban areas. White flight and capital mobility, meanwhile, have eroded the tax […]
Migration and the Geography of Racism in the U.S.
Principal Investigator: Co-Principal Investigators: While racial violence and racist ideology are associated with the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow in the South, such violence is pervasive outside the South as well. To better understand the origins of racist institutions and ideologies across the nation, this project will investigate whether and how migration of whites […]
The Slaying of Innocence
Principal Investigator: The Slaying of Innocence is a music-theatre work that portrays the true stories of two African American men who were given life sentences in prison at the ages of 15 and 16. Their fights to overthrow their convictions, and their challenges returning to society decades later are vividly told through gripping poetry and […]
“Shame Oh Shame:” Robert Morris, Public Space, and Commemorating Black Boston
Principal Investigator: Co-Principal Investigator: This project makes more visible Boston’s history of activist African Americans, and engages with historic preservationists and local communities in building a new public history. Morris (1823-1882), one of the earliest Black lawyers in the United States, played a central role in struggles in Boston to abolish slavery and integrate schools […]
Living in the Future City: Migration, Class, and Placemaking in a Chinese “New Area”
Principal Investigator: Co-Principal Investigator: How is urban life made meaningful in a city recently planned and built up from scratch? Xuyi’s research investigates migration and homemaking in a “National New Area” in Southwest China, where millions of acres of rural land have been bulldozed to make space for brand new roads, airport, office buildings, and […]
Folded Speech: An Ethics of Comings-and-Goings in an Accra Zongo
Principal Investigator: Co-Principal Investigator: “It is not impossible for a lizard to ride on a housefly!,” artist Nicolas Wayo remarked, directing Williamson’s attention to his wall painting at Kwame Nkrumah Park in Accra, Ghana. Indeed, an intricately painted lizard in a black and yellow-striped jersey mounted on a fly stared skeptically back at her through […]
Where do urban trees get their water?
Principal Investigator: Co-Principal Inevestigators: Cities face an array of environmental challenges and disparities, most of which are poised to become more problematic with climate change. In response, cities often turn to nature-based climate solutions such as tree planting due to the suite of ecosystem services that city trees offer. Despite dedicated resources to expanding urban […]
The Impact of Racism on Urban Belowground Biodiversity
Principal Investigator: Co-Principal Investigator: Healthy soils are a key measure of urban green space quality. In particular, soil microbial diversity is a crucial ecosystem service provided by urban green spaces, providing nutrients to urban plants, sequestering carbon in soil, and suppressing pathogens. Urbanization can reduce soil microbial diversity and increase the abundance of human pathogens, […]