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Semester Reflection (Due 12/08)

This class has been extremely enlightening for me, and I think that my timing for taking the class was perfect. Urban Studies has been a topic that has been interesting to me for years, but I think that I had never been exposed to such an all encompassing review of urban spaces, their behaviors, and their development. I think that the structure of this class really allowed me to understand why cities are formatted in the way they are, the demographic makeup of different cities, and why I may see identify something with one city and not identify this same characteristic with another. I think my focus on Urban Studies historically has been towards what we looked at towards the middle of the course so segregation, affordable housing, urban poverty, and crime. I didn't realize how interesting I would find the state and also characteristics of cities outside of the US, primarily because I had never considered them. Or even looking at sociologies who spoke about collective efficacy, for example, or our diminishing social capital, I think there were so many layers to urbanism and urban sociology that I had yet to discover before taking this class. I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to attend Urban Sociology, and I am excited to be able to implement my learning naturally as I find myself in cities as I get older!

Thank you Professor Gershberg and Jonathan for a great semester!

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Climate Change: What can be done? (Due 12/1)

I think that our conversations in class brought up really important points about the dismissal of developing countries in international politics, and how this is a really big mistake, especially when it comes to climate change. Climate change does worry me. I think as someone who has always been aware of conversations about global warming, and our contributions as humans to the worsening of the earth's state, I find it really interesting how various countries approach combatting climate change. There is imbalance. We see that developing nations are beginning, to some extent, to level the playing field with developed countries, and because of this they will be producing the majority of carbon emissions at some point in the future. This highlights the tension between many ideas that developing countries should make effort to act on legislation that reverses the effects of climate change, because they were not necessarily the actors in these situations. I think that conversations like those are ineffective at this point, especially considering how rapidly climate change is affecting the world. If developing nations have to be paid to not inflict more damage on the environment, what does this say about our acknowledgement of the issue? When we had our small discussion in class after watching the video about the rapid bus system in Curitiba, I mentioned to my classmates that I feel that accountability is the first step that countries need to take in order to properly enact reform for climate change. In the case I mentioned above, it is understandable that developing countries feel they should not be held responsible for the damages that occurred before them, but they should be aware that as they continue to develop they may find themselves in similar positions as the developed countries. When will people be willing, on their own, to attempt to reverse their actions for the greater good of our world's condition?

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Urbanization in "Developing" (?) Countries (Due 11/17)

This week, I have seen a lot of overlap between this class, and another class that I am taking called Comparative Politics of Developing Nations. A very big component of this class is looking at post-colonial countries. Not colonial in the manner that the US is a post colonial country, but more so colonial in the manner that the when these countries where under outside rule, they functioned more so as extensions of these higher powers (British, Spanish, Portuguese for example). Palen highlighted that this was one of the first major differences between the origin of the US and the origin of Latin American countries. A lack of autonomy in being able to decide physical structure, functions of cities/areas, and the products used in these Latin American countries became large determinants in how these countries functioned after they rid themselves of these colonial powers. Another connection I made between this class and my Politics class is the role of ISI and then eventually neoliberalism in developing countries. ISI policies pushed these countries into more inward focused methods when it came to trade and development. I feel that this was positive in some countries and also developed in negative ways in others. When Western powers eventually forced these countries to adopt methods like privatization, reduced government spending, and a return to foreign trade in exchange for economic support when needed, they fulfilled their own agendas.

I also found the article written by Fabian Dejtiar to be really interesting because it reminded me of conversations and ideas from our previous conversations about American urban poverty and segregation. There was mention of individuals in informal settlements being heavily impacted by COVID due to the fact that it was hard for them to distance themselves, they were often forced to continue work due to economic demands, and they had outstanding health conditions due to their poor living conditions. Its not necessarily the case that I believed these were solely American experiences, but I think that this highlights how these issues are international. Various governments across the world have similar difficulties in managing their urban populations. I also thought that it was really interesting when the article mentioned that government action is usually reactive instead of proactive when it came to dealing with individuals working in the informal economy or those living in squatter settlements. I have felt that this is a pattern I have noticed for years when reading about urban policy and or the ways in which the government supports the population. Instead of acting in manners that can establish secure settlements, for example, governments tend to act when these areas are unsafe or inhabitable. I think that this pattern needs to change, and is most likely one of the first steps to preventing present issues from worsening.

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When do we as people consider an event a disaster? (Due 11/10)

No matter how many times I learn about Hurricane Katrina in one of my classes, I am shocked at the scale and severity its effects had on New Orleans. I found the New York Times piece about Katrina to be extremely touching due to the true human aspect and experience it provided. The numbers of those who died, who were injured, or who had to evacuate due to the hurricane are all shocking, but to see how high the flooding really got, and to hear about the individuals who have still been unable to rebuild their homes and or properly relocate will never be something that doesn't affect me.

When I think about my experiences with "natural disasters" I think back to how unaware I was of the scale. My only true experiences with major weather events has been with Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and Snowstorm Nemo in 2013. I was only 8 at the time that both of these events occurred, and all I can truly remember was how happy I was to not be going to school. Of course my parents wouldn't have encouraged me to dive into the news of the events as they often spoke about fear, people losing power, and the lack of security in knowing what was going to happen next. I resonated with Judith Helfand from Cooked when she spoke about being privileged enough to evacuate New York and be surrounded by family who knew what to do in an event like that. Although I was not aware at the time, my family was significantly prepared for Sandy and Nemo when they hit my town, and this lead us to having a comparatively pleasant experience with the events. Many of my friends cannot say the same, as I know people who lost their homes during Sandy, or had family members severely affected by the snow in Nemo.

I was shocked to learn about the various examples of lack of support from federal and local governments during previous historical disasters. The role (or lack thereof) of the Bush administration in properly supporting New Orleans was shocking to read. Even many of the sentiments that the mayor of Chicago made during the heatwave in 1995 left me wondering how these individuals valued their jobs and the people they were meant to protect.

I also think about the privilege I had during COVID. Because of the resources that my school had, Zoom was a process that was easy to adjust to. We were required to have laptops anyway in order to attend the school, so all we had to do was get used to being online for 3 hours at a time and having 30 minute classes. At the start of the new school year after COVID hit, we were back to being completely in person with the new restrictions of masks, having our temperatures checked everyday, and eating lunch outside. I was very aware of my privilege at this point because it was obvious. I couldn't go on my phone without learning about the numerous students who experienced major halts in their education. I couldn't run away from the conversations I had with friends from my old school who shared about the difficult times they were having attempting to adjust to the poorly structured systems their schools tried to implement.

I do also acknowledge, that my family was one of many with individuals who were considered essential workers. My dad had to work the entirety of the first wave of the pandemic, and our dynamics at home changed dramatically because he wanted to prioritize my safety. I have somewhat conflicting experiences overall when it comes to various disasters that have occurred in my life, and it causes me to question how these can instead overlap in order to ensure that some of the privileges I experience can be shared with others.

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My Constantly Changing Understanding of Gentrification (Due 11/3)

Since I first heard the term, my sentiments towards gentrification has been constantly changing. The first time I was introduced to the word was in 8th grade by my Aunt who lived in Harlem at the time. For as long as I could remember (until COVID), my aunt lived a few blocks away from the Harlem 125th Metro North Station. When I was younger my father and I would drive into Harlem, but by the time I was around 13 I started taking the train into the city myself and walking to her apartment from the train station. When I was younger, I couldn't pick up on many of the changes that were going on in her neighborhood, but what I could take note of were the constant expressions of community and culture that would spread into the sidewalks and the streets. The whole neighborhood knew when it was someone's birthday, or when there was a culturally significant black or hispanic holiday. You could smell food being made on grills, music being played, and the laughter of individuals as they came together from the start of the day until the sun set. As I got older, a lot of these events stopped happening and I had asked my aunt why. She explained to me that many of those families had been moving out of the neighborhood and being replaced by either corporations or white families. At this age, I was very anti gentrification because I felt like the neighborhood was changing for the worse. It became quiet, you often didn't see people sitting out on the sidewalk anymore, the life that I had associated with my aunt's neighborhood in Harlem began to disappear.

I wouldn't consider where my aunt lived a ghetto, but I would consider it as a haven during those times where I felt the culture was rich. Lance Freeman introduced us to the changing characteristics of ghettos from havens to hells, and I think that for as long as I could remember, my aunts neighborhood near 131st street was a clear haven for those who lived there.

When I was watching the South Park Episode yesterday, Stuart reminded me a lot of my aunt, primarily because of all of the changes that were going on around him. The town officials made drastic efforts to change the spaces around Stuart, but Stuart himself was not moved out of the space which I found really interesting. For a while, until my aunts building was scheduled to be converted into a medical building, she was stagnant while major changes occurred around her. If I had compared her neighborhood when I first started going to her neighborhood now, I wouldn't be able to recognize it. When I think of gentrification, I often dont think of it as purely improving the surrounding areas. It's almost like I believe everything starts fresh. Like when I watched Who's Barrio and one of the women talked about a moment when she was showing a people around the neighborhood and they had asked when the affordable housing would be removed from the space. I think I unfortunately have that expectation based on how I have perceived gentrification, but others have that expectation because of the drastic changes they have participated in for gentrification.

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My Immigrant Experience (Due 10/27)

I found this weeks reading to be really interesting primarily because I found myself relating to many sentiments made by the authors about the immigrant experience, and I also found myself in positions where I could not relate. When reading Portes and Manning, I resonated with their comments about immigrants wanting to preserve their distinct ethnic identities. This holds true for myself and my family. I believe that my family actively sought out other Jamaicans within our area to establish an ethnic community where we felt comfortable. I think what also contributed to this was our ability as a family to constantly be able to travel back to Jamaica. We were able to still interact with out natural community in the country that we immigrated from. I am really thankful for this as a lot of immigrants cannot say the same. I think without this constant access, it would have been a little more difficult for my family to uphold the identity that they value so heavily due to the exposure to other communities and identities in the US.

I would like to note however, that as my family motivated me to participate in initiatives that resemble the class progression of second generation immigrants, they encouraged me to adapt to the surrounding communities (to an extent) in order to make my assimilation process easier. I originally went to public school after moving, but I transitioned to private school in the 6th grade. My parents made many efforts to ensure that I received many opportunities that they did not growing up, and so a major priority of theirs was ensuring that I was successful in ending up better off than they currently are. When it came to situations regarding this part of my experience living in the US, my ethnic identity was not emphasized by my family in an effort to 'guarantee' my success.

When speaking about the Latino immigrant experience, Renden highlighted community initiatives and the importance of having relationships across classes, (among other things). When I think back to how my family learned about my private school, it is because my grandmother had nannied for an affluent family who had sent their children to the same school, and they had stayed in touch (cross class relationships). When I think about my college application process, I have to consider the college program that a friend of mine mentioned had helped her, and then went on to help me with standardized test prep, writing my supplements, and going on college visits. My immigrant experience has somewhat been characterized by these characteristics that Renden emphasized. In my experience they have been important as described by Renden, and I am happy that my interaction with these characteristics has helped me to get to where I am today.

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The Role of Women (Due 10/20)

I found this weeks readings about the presence of women in urban spaces to be really interesting primarily because I felt like there were many areas I resonated with through my own experiences, and many areas that I did not (for the same reasons). I think that I always had an understanding about the preceding role of women in our society and how this has had an effect on society's structure, however the effect on our physical (or urban) structure is fairly new to me.

I grew up both in a single parent home with a strong female presence, as well as a home with a dominant male presence and more domestic female presence. I would not say that either of these experiences fell on the extremes. I lived with my mother and sister for the first 6 years of my life. My mother was my primary caretaker, and so the structure of our household was controlled by her. I spent a lot of time with my mother, but I felt like we had roles: she was constantly working and I was constantly at school. I never felt that my mother was compromising her time at home to be at work (or vice versa) which I think was highlighted by both Palen in chapter 9 and Spain. Obviously I do not remember what this dynamic was like when I was an infant/toddler but I have had insight into this with my little brother. Because he is 5, my mom has had to hire a live in nanny to stay with him while she works. I would say that she still spends a lot of time with him and in the house, however this is a concrete example of these roles somewhat having to be passed on to other individuals (and in this case another woman).

When I moved to the US, I lived with my father and my grandmother. My father was constantly working so I spent more of my time with my grandmother. My grandmother worked as well, but I felt like I felt her presence more within the home than my father's. I would say that this fit the more traditional and preceding perception of familial household roles, however I would say that if it came down to who felt more like the "head of household", it was my grandmother. Who was making the money never truly held significance within my family, or at least that was my understanding.

There was a lot of information within the reading that I found really interesting or shocking. I was completely unaware of the "gendered spaces" that Palen spoke about in chapter 9. I found myself truly shocked to learn about separate bedrooms or common spaces for women and men that was present in previous centuries. I think that because in my life, women have held extremely significant and powerful roles in my family, the idea of their subordination is truly foreign to me. I also thought that the connections that Spain made to the increase in "family" type restaurant and fast food, increase in homeowner's association, and the development of edge cities to be really insightful. I never truly thought about why these developments occurred, but it makes a lot of sense that they could be related to the shifting role of women in our society.