A Commentary on the Whitening of the Public University: The Context for Diversifying Geography

Abstract

This commentary raises a series of questions for geographical research in national, regional, and institutional contexts for diversifying geography. Decades of neoliberal political and economic reforms and the still-unfolding Great Recession are reshaping funding and assessment in geography. These developments could have unintended and spatially varied effects on efforts to diversify geography. We explore geographies of uneven access to public education that shape the class and race profile of student bodies, outlining research and practice agendas that arise from our cautionary tales about the contemporary context.