The Small-Town Dilemma: Understanding the Spatial Imagination of Rural California and the Implications of Physical Place in Access to Higher Education for Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC)

Keywords: BIPOC, Black geographies, Indigenous geographies, rural, higher education, upward mobility, access, equity, admissions, California, choice, hope
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Sunday
Session Start / End Time: 2/27/2022 05:20 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/27/2022 06:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 78

Abstract

Rural regions tend to be considered conservative, old-fashioned, and overwhelmingly white, a perception that excludes systemically impacted BIPOC, especially within access to higher education. Rural diversity itself is complicated with the expansion of the urban fringe and edge cities, especially in hyper-urbanized places such as California. In my research, I am utilizing geo-computation to explore relationships within the spatial imaginaries of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) in the Central Valley of California. I will be specifically analyzing maps and data surrounding the expansion of Amazon-ification, the embedded carceral landscape, and techno-capitalism's impact on both climate change and agricultural spatialities as it situates feelings of belonging and exclusivity. Physical data accompanied by theory will be analyzed to complete maps of "hope",