Overview
Undergraduate Thesis
Honors
Advised by Alexander Craghead, Christine Palmer
Interdisciplinary Program in American Studies
University of California, Berkeley
May 2026
Abstract
Americans are increasingly divided along many different social lines whether it’s rich/poor, red/blue, or urban/rural. Economists, political scientists, and sociologists have examined these divisions from their distinct disciplinary angles, but I take an interdisciplinary approach grounded in American Studies to analyze how three social divisions—race, politics, and innovation—reflect in contemporary urban landscapes. I argue that these lines of division simultaneously shape, and are reinforced by, the built environment. Through visual representation, I show how historical redlining has created current neighborhood disparities, how diversity has changed suburban politics, and how the innovation economy has not been evenly distributed across geographies. My research contributes to larger discussion around stratification, and reveals the built connections between social phenomena and placemaking.
Notes
I received funding from the Aisin-Gioro American Studies Thesis Research Grant and Center for Race and Gender Research Grant.
I presented this work at the American Studies Thesis Showcase (Berkeley, CA) in May 2026.