UGS 302 Seminar
Tues/Thurs 9:30 – 11:00am, MAI 220E
Open to all first year students
Charles Davis II, PhD: charles.davis@austin.utexas.edu
This course recovers the overlooked contributions of Black artists and architects in shaping the built environment from the Harlem Renaissance to Black Lives Matter. It argues that Black social movements have radically shaped the built environment by bringing together the work and expertise of licensed architects, patrons, activists, and artists to achieve a social mission of racial betterment and equality in the face of anti-Black racism. These collaborations have established a historical pattern that Black communities have used to shape the built environment, from the socially progressive entrepreneurs and radical homemakers of the nineteenth century to the licensed architects, planners, and interior designers of the twentieth century. Extending authorship of the built environment beyond the professional architect enables us to tell the story of Black placemaking in a more holistic way.
