Researchers: Madelaine Cahuas (College of Liberal Arts, Department of Geography, Environment and Society) and Jessica Lopez Lyman (College of Liberal Arts, Department of Chicano and Latino Studies)

This study analyzes Latina/o/x displacement and access to affordable housing for families whose children attend two charter schools—Academia Cesar Chavez (Eastside St. Paul) and El Colegio High School (South Minneapolis). Since these schools’ mission and vision are dependent on centering Latina/o/x identity and culture, the potential gentrification of these neighborhoods could lead to decreased enrollments and severe consequences for the schools such as having to…

Researchers: Dr. Ed Brands (Associate Professor of Environmental Studies, Division of the Social Sciences, University of Minnesota Morris) and Dr. Cristina Ortiz (Associate Professor of Anthropology, Division of the Social Sciences, University of Minnesota Morris)

Although the majority of food is produced in sparsely populated rural areas, food insecurity in these same areas is pervasive, likely increasing, and understudied. We propose a five-county regional food systems assessment, coincident with the Horizon Public Health Service area in West-Central Minnesota. This assessment will employ a variety of quantitative (e.g. survey) and qualitative (e.g. participant…

Researcher: Elizabeth Wrigley-Field (College of Liberal Arts, Department of Sociology, Minnesota Population Center, Institute for Social Research and Data Innovation)

2020 marked a major upheaval in how racial stratification and neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation (e.g., neighborhood poverty rates) intersect in structuring mortality risk in Minnesota. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, racial stratification in mortality aligned strongly with neighborhood deprivation. The early pandemic changed that. But what has happened since and what is happening now? Has Minnesota returned to its pre-pandemic patterns of inequity, has it maintained the new patterns it…

Nationwide, 1 in 44 people is identified as autistic[1] in Minnesota, where more evaluation services are available, the rate is 1 in 36.[2] Autism Spectrum Disorder, or ASD, is a pervasive, neurological, and developmental disability that can include impairment in reciprocal social communication and social interaction, sensory intensity, and restricted,…

The Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA) invites proposals for our Faculty Interactive Research Program (FIRP).University of Minnesota faculty are critical resources in exploring issues and concerns important to Minnesota, such as the criminal justice system, demography, state or local economic development, education, employment, energy, the environment, health, housing, state and local government, welfare and poverty, human and social services, transportation, or land use and development.

The FIRP encourages University faculty to carry out research projects that answer…

The Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA) is pleased to announce the competition for the 2023–2024 Fesler-Lampert Chair in Urban and Regional Affairs, and invites interested faculty from across the University of Minnesota to apply for this award.

The Fesler-Lampert Chair in Urban and Regional Affairs provides one year of support for the research activities of a University of Minnesota faculty member on a project related to urban and regional affairs in Minnesota. Previous holders of the chair have used this support to complete projects on urban environmental policy advocacy in the Twin Cities, employee turnover and retention…

CURA is pleased to announce the recipients of this year′s Faculty Interactive Research Program grants: 

• Amanda L. Sullivan (Department of Educational Psychology, College of Education and Human Development) Using Multisystem Data to Understand the Intersections of Housing Insecurity and Disability among Minnesota Children and Youth
• Di Zhu (Geography, Environment and Society, College of Liberal Arts) Sensing Geospatial Communities in…

Researcher: Amanda L. Sullivan (Department of Educational Psychology, College of Education and Human Development)

Efficiently, effectively identifying and supporting multiply minoritized P12 students with educational difficulties is increasingly challenging for educational systems nationally, and in Minnesota in particular, given complex issues related to our racial and economic disparities. This project will explore the intersections of two especially vulnerable populations: students who experience housing insecurity and students with disabilities. Research underscores a number of challenges related to the identification of both groups, and these difficulties…

Researcher: Di Zhu (Geography, Environment and Society, College of Liberal Arts)

The geography of a community is not constrained by administrative boundaries. It is in essence, comprised of residents who routinely move around and interact with others, often beyond their local spatial context. One of the most challenging problems in community planning is understanding how fine-grained local regions are irregularly and dynamically organized by human movements. In partnership with MN Compass, Move Minnesota, and local planning agencies, this project will propose an integrated data-driven analytical framework to sense dynamic community structures within the Twin…

The Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA) invites proposals for our Faculty Interactive Research Program (FIRP). University of Minnesota faculty are critical resources in exploring issues and concerns important to Minnesota, such as the criminal justice system, demography, state or local economic development, education, employment, energy, the environment, health, housing, state and local government, welfare and poverty, human and social services, transportation, or land use and development.

The FIRP encourages University faculty to carry out…