Students of Color and Their Sense of Place at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

File(s)
Date
2019Author
Bianchi, Gabriella Trotta
Graham, Joshua Luke
D’Amato, Nicolas Frances
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
The following is a research project investigating students and their sense of place at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The goal of the project is to better understand the relationships between race and space at UW. The investigation was motivated by a number of racially insensitive incidents that occurred at the university from 2016 to 2019. Those incidents are viewed as largely publicized versions of the racial insensitivity and othering experienced by Students of Color on a daily basis. Surveys and interviews were conducted in order to gain a comprehensive view of students of color and their relationships to race and space on campus. They consisted of asking a series of questions about how students feel about their racial identities on campus and locations that they feel a greater or lesser sense of belonging. Using heat maps as the primary data points, specific locations were identified as being places of comfort and discomfort for students. The interviews allowed for an in depth understanding of students’ senses of belongings as they relate to specific spaces and whether or not they can be tied to racial identity. Surveyed and interviewed students pointed out locations on campus that they felt were more and less representative of the general campus diversity levels. Additionally, they identified a number of occurrences and tendencies as being problems and engaged possible solutions to the university’s lack of racial diversity. The research provides a glimpse into students’ lives and the space around them at the University of Wisconsin-Madison as they relate to racial identity.
Subject
University of Wisconsin - Madison
Students of color
Sense of place
Race and space
Diversity
Racial identity
Permanent Link
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1793/80353Type
Field project
Description
Includes Figures, Charts, Maps, Appendices and Bibliography.