GEOG 286 - A People’s Geography of the Hudson Valley.

Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)

This course involves the production of an online, historical-geographical guide to sites across the Hudson Valley. It employs an approach that is explicitly “from below,” or from the socio-economic, political, ideological and geographic margins, as well as a perspective of “the people” (a dynamic category). A people’s perspective privileges the desires, hopes and struggles of those on the receiving end of unjust forms of power, and of those who work to challenge such inequities and to realize a region, as well as a larger world, that, is radically inclusive and democratic, and that centers social and environmental justice. In producing various components of the guide, students learn about archival research methods, cartographic analysis, and landscape reading, while enhancing their writing and editing skills. The goal of the guide is to tell a story about the making of the Hudson Valley as a region, an area that is characterized by strong ties within—as well as many divisions along axes of (among others) class, gender, race, sexuality, and space. The course explores these ties and divisions—how they were made, challenged, and struggled over—as a way of trying to make sense of what the Hudson Valley was and is, and what it could be.” In Spring 2023, the course focuses on Yonkers, the third most populous city in New York State. Joseph Nevins.

One 2-hour period.

Course Format: INT