Anastasia & Bella

We often think about 'home' in our society as a place of residence or a 'feeling' associated with comfort and support. Geographers' definitions of 'home' can vary to encompass both the physical structure and the socio-cultural aspects pertaining to both inside and outside of the home; examples of 'home' include "a matrix of social relations", "an important site of consumption" and a "safe, loving and positive space" (Valentine, 2001, p. 63). The home is also a site of "idealized meaning or social imaginary" while also embodying a "physical or material reality" (Whitson, 2017, p. 52). Thinking more broadly, the authors of this blog post would like to consider the Earth -- our planet, our common environment, and our resource base -- as the home that transcends all of our apartment complexes, two-story houses, and luxury condominiums. The Earth provides a habitat-home for all species, including hu...

The corporeal markers we chose for our project were disability-related: a wheelchair and an arm-sling. While both of these markers actually are required  for (temporarily or permanently) disabled bodies to function in an able-bodied world, the markers are uncommon enough among young, abled bodies in college.  These specific corporeal markers were chosen because one of the participants (Bella) was already navigating spaces in a wheelchair, due to an unfortunate series of injury-related events. Noticing differences in how and where she was able to access her beloved college campus of 4 years, she decided to 'make' the wheelchair her marker for the remainder of the project. Anastasia utilized an arm sling leftover from Bella's stress-fractured elbow injury last year.  Unwelcome bodies: Doors and objects in the way Navigating the able-bodied world with disability markers was quite a challenge. Invoking Hansen and Philo's (2007) discussion on 'doing things diffe...