Culture, Community & Place Research

Culture, Community, and Place scholarship is concerned with understanding our place in the world and thinking critically about inequality and power along lines of class, gender, race, and ethnicity. Intersections of racial, gender-, sexual-, and class-based identities shape perceptions of places and human experiences. Research by faculty and students in ESS investigates how societies evolve within cultural landscapes, how individuals construct identities in relation to their communities, and how places shape the everyday experiences of people and how placemaking occurs. We use community-based approaches to address place-based issues and examine ways of life, local knowledge, and cultural differences to understand the needs and values of diverse groups. ESS faculty and students explore the interconnections between people and place through a range of research themes, including landscape, mobility, food access, social justice, identity, ethnicity, and representation. By engaging with diverse communities and employing interdisciplinary approaches, we develop insights that inform policy-making, promote social justice, and enhance our understanding of the connections between people and place.