Mapping differences
Social disparity on campus through the eyes of students
Melissa Hiebert, Staff
University campuses can be some of the most open and diverse places for people to be. There is such a varied student body, and one of the roles of the university is to make sure that all students feel comfortable, welcome and safe on campus. However, there are still some areas on campus that can make people feel uneasy or unsafe.
For one of her women’s studies courses, Professor Liz Millward decided to assign a different type of project to her students. The assignment was for each student to create a map of how they view the campus. Her goal was to encourage students to reflect on the spaces on campus that are comfortable, and those spaces that are uncomfortable or unknown.
“I thought that drawing a map of the Fort Garry campus from their perspectives was a great way to plunge students into thinking about how social differences, particularly around gender, are reproduced in our everyday spaces,” said Millward. Eventually, the project grew into more of a personal interpretation of the campus, with every student focusing on a different segregational issue.
I recently had the pleasure of viewing two students’ maps, one created by Heidi LeMay and another by Sarah Granke. They discussed how they interpreted the campus and why they labelled certain spaces the way they did.
Heidi’s map
“I did my map in queer perspective,” said Heidi. The key on her map labels the spaces on campus as “heterocentric” or “male-dominated,” “extremely homophobic,” “queer positive,” “unknown” or “neutral.” The only space labelled “extremely homophobic” is Tache Hall. “My experience in res was not a positive one,” explained Heidi, “so that was definitely something that I focused on.”
As for queer positive spaces, Heidi labelled areas like the Helen Glass centre (in which the Rainbow Pride Mosaic and other allied student groups are found) as well as the top floors of University Centre (where the counselling office is found), among a few others.
One space that was labelled heterocentric and male-dominated was the bottom floor of University Centre. “Walking through U Centre is one of the most judgmental parts, where everyone is staring at you,” Heidi said. “It’s just really this uncomfortable, judgmental space.”
A large part of the map was labelled unknown — places where Heidi had never been before.
Sarah’s map
Sarah’s map took the form of a booklet with a collection of smaller maps and descriptions of certain places. One of the places she specifically talked about was the Womyns Centre.
“Just to know that there is a space that is removed and safe and is a very respectful area is comforting,” said Sarah. “That’s why I labelled it ‘the estrogen nest.’” Another area that she focused on was the bottom floor of University Centre, which she labelled “the meat market.” She described this area as “a space in which I feel like I have a hundred eyes on me and where I feel like I am being judged and evaluated based on my appearance and dress.”
One of the other places where she feels comfortable is University College, because this is where she has many of her classes and knows the building and the people very well.
Sarah also mapped University College from the perspective of someone who was physically disabled. She labelled all of the “obstructions” she saw, with obstruction defined as an area where movement would be difficult.
She mapped the university tunnels in the daytime versus the night, considering the tunnels in the daytime largely “safe” spaces, but mostly “unsafe” spaces at night. “At night, your safety as a woman frequently decreases,” stated Sarah, explaining that the tunnels “are a closed space, with no windows and not a lot of people around, and there’s no quick escape route.” She also included maps of places where she felt generally secure and many places where she had never been before.
All in all, the project was a positive experience. “Seeing other people’s interpretations of space was really cool,” said Heidi.
Professor Millward also learned something from the project. She was surprised to find that “there are certain spaces that all students agree are hotspots of anxiety, where many students feel watched, judged, and subtly or overtly threatened, especially in terms of their gender and sexuality: the University Centre, residences, the Engineering Building and the Frank Kennedy Centre, in particular.”
“There’s so many different people from so many different backgrounds, so a space is never just going to feel safe for everyone,” said Sarah. “It’s a really big struggle, and it’s important to keep conversation going about it.”
Perhaps with careful reflection and projects like these, we can work towards making campus spaces feel comfortable and accessible for everyone.
