Through a critical spatial lens, this course will advance discourse in social justice activism as it informs transformative design practices. Addressing various themes of study around forms of institutional violence and liberatory activism, we will engage in intersectional study of geography, sociology, urban planning, and the arts. We will examine topics such as anti-racism; decoloniality and land; civil resistance; housing justice; indigenous practices; solidarity economics; critical ecology and climate justice; food sovereignty; and healing justice. The course is conceived in solidarity and collaboration with the Philadelphia Peace Park and the Peacetown Community Land Trust and is structured in relation to their organizing principles as an open and community-operated campus. Weekly sessions will include public events, discussions of relevant theory, and the fabrication of a designed artifact to be installed at the park. Held in a community cultural center in West Philadelphia on several Monday evenings during the term, the public events will convene local and international justice organizers and scholars in diverse formats. Other activities will be held on Penn's campus. These collective endeavors will deepen our understanding of the complexities of systems of oppression while actively contributing to the development of radical spatial justice discourse.
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