So... Inequality. How is that geography?

In a car ride today, coming back from a weekend hiatus to Portland, a fellow Craigslist rider asked me about what I study at the University.

I told her my spiel, "I'm interested in urban inequality, young people, and the way that non-profits mitigate or impact young people's experiences of inequality". She lolled her head against the back of my seat, as she sprawled out against the backseat of the car. Her face was precariously close to my own as she declared, "So, how is that geography? Like, urban studies?"

"Well, yes, I suppose you could say that". Silence followed. When prodded again about what I wanted to do with this degree, I told her that while conflicted with the politics and ethics of academia, that I would be thrilled to be a professor and teach at a college.

"But, isn't that a bit of a contradiction? I mean, how are you going to fix inequality when you're working for a school. Just playing devil's advocate, but... I mean, there's no direct link to fixing what you're talking about and teaching middle class kids."

At this point, I explained my views on teaching. And I am sticking by them.

I think that teaching can be as transformative, and perhaps a more direct path to social change, than many of the non-profits I've been involved with. Social programs deal with small scale, often immeasurable 'progress' for local communities (most of the time). Funding is haphazard, inter-office politics are flagrant, and ethics and cultural sensitivity are often lacking. I hold much respect for committed non-profit professionals. There is very little appreciation, and very little pay, for the arduous and demanding work of changing the world.

Now, if we think about why people are in the situations they're in, why they even need to rely on non-profit and social service programs to meet their basic needs and improve community health, then we need more than non-profits. That is when we need critical pedagogy in order to shape the minds of young people to be critical thinkers and look for larger, context specific explanations of inequality.

Teaching students to unpack and examine social phenomenon at different scales, from different perspectives, in specific geographical-historical lenses: this is what geography is all about, in my book.

My mother always tells me that a good day is a day when you have a good day. In that vein, I think a good course is a course where you get through to at least one student. Last fall, I had such a student, who attended a talk by Ananya Roy, and is now volunteering with a microfinance organization so he can learn more for himself. In the spring, I worked with a GIS student who is pursuing field work and biology, but now with the knowledge of GIS and the politics of map making.

So, if these students go out into the world and contribute their own way of thinking and looking and seeing, then how many ripples will they send out, too? Yes, education is not accessible to many people. The university is becoming less open and less public every day. I recognize the politics in this. But, I think that if I work my best when I'm with students, then that is where I need to be in order to best express my own wishes for social justice and transformative urban experiences. Which means, Craigslist girl, that yes. I think I can improve inequality through teaching. Perhaps it is not as direct as a workfare program or job-training program, but I don't think it needs to be.