New experiential learning opportunity for Windsor Law students in equitable citybuilding policy

We are pleased to announce a new Project-Based Experiential Placement (PBEP) opportunity for Winter Term 2022 for WIndsor Law students with an interest in equitable citybuilding policy. The student team will contribute to the BOLD Policy Project, being led by Centre for Cities Fellow in Equitable City Building Policy, Jay Pitter, and will be supervised by Pitter with the support of Centre for Cities Director Dr. Anneke Smit.

About the project:

The BOLD Policy Project seeks to go beyond conventional charity and social service interventions to identify and reform urban policies restricting and extinguishing Black lives. Spurred by the public execution of George Floyd and the killing of Breonna Taylor, two tragedies among countless others, this project is led by award-winning placemaker Jay Pitter whose evidence-based practice is located at the nexus of urban design and social justice, and informed by the seminal scholarship and ancestral example of W.E.B. Du Bois.

The primary project pillars are: a survey to begin to gather and codify Black peoples’ public space experiences; urban policy reform literature review, documentation of Black trauma-informed placemaking approaches; and a review of municipal policies in 5-7 pilot cities using a spatialized anti-Blackness and broader equitable placemaking lens.

About the placement:

This Project Based External Placement is a 3-credit experiential learning opportunity for Winter Term 2022 in which students will contribute to the Bold Policy Project by carrying out the following:

  • Research urban policies related to equity that have been successfully reformed with a relatively short period of time and develop brief case studies;
  • Contribute to the creation of a high-level list of urban policies that disproportionately impact Black peoples’ public space experiences;
  • Contribute to the creation of a catalogue of racially responsive, trauma-informed placemaking approaches carried out within Black communities;
  • Contribute to the creation of a resource folder containing policy toolkits and other resources designed to redress issues such as gentrification, police profiling, public space surveillance, exclusion from public space programming etc. that adversely impact Black peoples’ public space experiences

Participating Windsor Law students may also support the campus-wide audit Ms Pitter will be leading to assess the sense of safety, belonging and collaboration that Black students, faculty and staff feel at the University of Windsor. This audit will include an on-campus survey, small conversation circles, virtual and/or in-person campus walking tour/s and will be done under the auspices of the office of the Vice-President, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion of the University of WIndsor.  This placement will proceed virtually per current public health and University of Windsor requirements. As public health regulations permit, there may be opportunity for some in-person collaboration including (a) walking tour(s) in Toronto and/or Windsor during the term.

A further experiential learning opportunity with this project may be available in Fall Term 2022.

Qualifications:

This opportunity is open to current 2L and 3L Windsor Law students.

Previous coursework, or the equivalent, in Municipal Law, Land Use Planning, Critical Race Theory, Administrative Law, Diversity and the Law, Construction Law, and/or Infrastructure Law is strongly recommended, as will relevant pre-law training in related topics (including urban planning, urban studies, sociology, etc). Experience in municipal governance and/or policymaking, advocacy and other civic engagement in the municipal and/or anti-racism sphere, will be a strong attribute as will demonstrated research skills.

To apply:

Please submit:

  • Brief cover letter outlining relevant experience (including relevant coursework) and reasons for your interest in this project,
  • cv
  • the names and contact information of two references (at least one should be an academic reference), and
  • a law school transcript (unofficial is fine)

to Ms Jay Pitter and Dr. Anneke Smit, c/o Tiffany Brown ([email protected]). Applications should be received by noon, Friday January 14. Any questions about the project may be directed in the first instance to Dr. Smit at [email protected]. All applicants will be contacted and offers for the course will be made by Monday 17 January. Scheduling of in-class time will be done in collaboration with selected students.

Share
Copy Link

Related Articles