Welcome to the website for the seminar Race, Space, and Architecture in the United States.

In spring 2021, this course was revived and redesigned; it had not been offered since the fall of 2012. This is an interdisciplinary course, referencing the projects and methodologies of architects, architectural historians, archaeologists, artists, designers, environmentalists, ethnographers, historians, urbanists, sociologists, technicians, and writers. Through historiography, the course counters the stance that Black history in the built environment is studied only alongside stories of white supremacy. The course examines intersectionalities between race, ability, gender, and sexual orientation to explore complexities in policy and practice within the built environment.

Over the last three iterations of the course, semester-long collaborative student research projects led to unprecedented Atlanta Landmark designations (e.g., St. Mark AME as a ruin), Section 106 reviews, Historic American Building (HABS) submissions, podcasts, several exhibitions, GT funding (Liam’s Legacy and the Provost’s office), and $520k in federal funding (NPS African American Civil Rights Grant and National Center for Preservation Training and Technology Grant) for GT and local preservation non-profits to continue work at selected sites.

In many senses, this builds towards a preservation technology program that makes digital tools and outputs more accessible to students, professionals, community partners, and the public. Initiatives focused on sustainable tourism and heritage building information modeling (HBIM) expose students to community-grounded field work, in both analog and digital formats. The course pilots workflows, building technology (historical and contemporary), historic preservation, heritage triage, and tourism, particularly in areas impacted by aggressive development and climate change (urban heat island + coastal issues).