Sarah Elwood
Associate Professor

Department of Geography

University of Washington
206.616.5238, selwood@u.washington.edu

Smith 413B

Courses
Geography 360/560: Principles of GIS Mapping
Geography 461/561: Urban GIS
Geography 469:
GIS Workshop

Geography 521: Research Seminar: Critical GIS


I am interested in understanding the social and political impacts of spatial technologies such as GIS, and the changing role and power of community-based planning and local activism in shaping urban geographies. My research and teaching practices incorporate mixed methods, participatory research methods and experiential learning.  I am currently finishing a research, teaching, and community outreach project that focuses on the use and impacts of geographic information systems and GIS-based spatial knowledge in neighborhood revitalization, and urban planning and problem solving. In collaboration with two community development organizations in Chicago, the project seeks to understand  the changing activities of grassroots citizen organizations in urban governance processes that shape neighborhood needs and conditions, by showing how their role and power in this context is affected by use of computer mapping and analysis technologies such as GIS.  As part of experiential learning activities in my GIS and urban geography courses, undergraduate students work with these organizations to plan and implement GIS-based spatial analysis projects using these data.  These activities are intended to develop students’ skills for and commitments to public service and active citizenship, and their critical reflection upon the social and political implications of their conceptual and applied learning. In its broader societal contributions, we hope the project will develop knowledge and practices that help answer fundamental questions about how to improve quality of life in American inner city neighborhoods, and encourage robust democratic practices that involve neighborhood residents in the very decisions that affect them and their neighborhoods. This project is supported by the National Science Foundation.

Selected Publications (full cv)