“This course invites students to explore how urban neighborhoods work – and to work in and with urban neighborhoods. We will focus on local communities that face serious sustainability challenges, but which are also developing significant strategies for positive change.” – Syllabus (2020)
During this class we have looked at historic Westside neighborhoods, especially the English Avenue neighborhood, from a variety of perspectives– historical, social, political, economic, environmental, and personal, among others – and have placed these communities within the larger context of the greater metropolitan Atlanta region.
We read Harley Etienne’s Pushing Back the Gates: Neighborhood Perspectives on University-Driven Revitalization in West Philadelphia (2012), and learned about numerous examples of how other schools besides Georgia Tech have approached community outreach or community service, both positive and negative.
We have had a variety of speakers come talk to our class virtually, including Gregory Nobles (former Georgia Tech History Professor), Jaqueline Royster (former Dean of the Ivan Allen College), Michael Dobbins (Georgia Tech City Planning Professor), Ruth Yow (Georgia Tech Serve-Learn-Sustain), Larry Keating (former Georgia Tech City Planning professor and legendary Atlanta author), Max Blau (Atlanta-based investigative journalist), Charlie Bennett (Georgia Tech Librarian), Daniel Horowitz Garcia (StoryCorps), Katie O’Connell (Communities Who Know), Chris Burke (Georgia Tech Community Relations), Stephen Causby (English Avenue resident), and State Representative “Able” Mable Thomas, as well as interns from the Building Memories project (a Georgia Tech podcast series).
We met virtually with community stakeholders and residents to complete “an attainable and sustainable project and in the process, help[ed] strengthen these communities’ ties to Georgia Tech” which we decided would be a podcast about the English Avenue School. Currently being renovated into a community center, the building was bombed by unknown persons in 1960 because of its association with ongoing civil rights protests, just as Atlanta’s school board was on the verge of implementing a desegregation plan. We worked in multiple groups for research, interviewing, scriptwriting, audio development, and website development for our podcast.
“The most valuable thing about this class is how we learn in depth about how the communities around Georgia Tech became what they are today. This class was one of the few opportunities in which students can learn the whole truth of the history and development of Westside Atlanta and actually interact with residents and affiliates of communities that have been greatly affected by redevelopment and gentrification. It was a very insightful course that showed the realities of neighborhoods minutes away from our campus.” -Annie Tran (4th year)
“This class opened up my eyes to the realities of having a city campus and the relationships that are involved with the surrounding neighborhoods, schools, businesses, students, professors, and the city itself. These relationships present a lot of opportunities for growth and excellence, but they also present a lot of challenges and tensions. Getting to explore these relationships in regards to Georgia Tech has given me a new appreciation for the surrounding neighborhoods and a determination to continue fostering these relationships in a way that honors, respects, and builds partnerships between many different communities.” – Helen Smith (4th year)