pridescapes

Landscapes & Pandemics: The Inequities of AIDS & COVID-19

Summer Speaker Series | June 3, 2021

COVID-19 has disproportionately affected Black and Latinx people, as well as LGBTQ+ people, many who are living at the intersections of multiple marginalized identities. Over the past year, several comparisons have been made between the rise of the HIV/AIDS crisis in the US in the 80s and 90s and the current COVID-19 pandemic. Both diseases have disproportionately affected vulnerable communities, particularly people of color. Both have been exacerbated by public health responses from government leaders, and both are still ongoing.

This panel discussion explores how these two pandemics are spatialized in the landscape and how neighborhood environments and access to resources can affect health outcomes. Where in our cities are these disparities most seen? How do they shape our landscapes? How as designers can we create spaces that positively contribute and facilitate human health and well-being? We will hear from leading academics and activists and learn what these pandemics mean for communities across the US.

Presenters

René Esparza, PhD | Assistant Professor of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Washington University in St Louis

Derrick Matthews, PhD | Assistant Professor of Health Behavior at UNC

Curtis Winkle, PhD | Associate Professor of Urban Planning and Policy at University of Illinois at Chicago

Melinda Hunt | Founding Director & President of the Hart Island Project