Geographies of Safety: Mapping Safe Spaces for Students of Color at Brown
This project uses the digital to name the concrete safe spaces at Brown University. Here we have a strong example of how some physical spaces are deemed safe and unsafe. By further probing this site you can determine what students mean when they mean "safe space."
"There are three layers to the map. The first is a blue polygon outlining Brown's campus. The second layer is a combination of mostly markers and a few polygons, all green. These markers indicate the areas students identified as "safe," with students' reasons included in the description for the marker or the polygon. The second layer indicates "unsafe" spaces, and both the markers and the polygons are red. Both the "safe" and "unsafe" spaces layers include a polygon of some spaces that could not be classified to a specific location on the map. These two 'unclassified' polygons can be viewed to the right of the polygon outlining Brown's campus."
By looking through the reasons why students deemed some spaces unsafe, e.g. "I feel like I don't belong here" or "I am reminded that I am different," one can see the need for a more cohesive definition or theory on what a safe space truly is. In order to make "safe space" a productive term, a theory of "safe spaces" should be developed.
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