Keynote Conversation and Cartographic Play Fair

ADMISSION: 
Admission is free and open to everyone. Reservations required. RSVP beginning Monday, February 1, at 10 a.m. 

DESCRIPTION:  
Explore the enduring legacy of redlining through a dynamic evening of dialogue, discovery, and creative engagement. Robert K. Nelson and Riley Champine of the University of Richmond’s Digital Scholarship Lab, creators of the groundbreaking Mapping Inequality project, will discuss how redlining shaped urban development, the challenges of interpreting historical data, and the continuing impact of these policies on housing, environmental justice, and neighborhood change. 

After the conversation, a Cartographic Play Fair, including zine-making, collaborative mapping, and interactive explorations of digital and archival projects, will encourage participants to reflect on L.A.’s past and imagine more equitable urban futures.  

This Is One Part of a Series! 
This conversation and play fair are a part of From the Map to the Streets: Redlining & Resistance in L.A., a three-part series that looks at how the history of Los Angeles is written into its neighborhoods. Through conversations, hands-on activities, archival exploration, and guided walking tours, uncover how redlining shaped the city and continues to influence housing, infrastructure, and environmental justice today.  

Related Events: 
Exposition Park, Archives, and the Legacy of Redlining: A Guided Walking Tour 
Friday, March 26, from 12 to 3 p.m. 
USC Special Collections, Exposition Park, and Mercado la Paloma 
More info and RSVP 

Bunker Hill, Archives, and Urban Transformation: A Guided Walking Tour 
Saturday, March 27, from 12 to 3 p.m. 
Los Angeles Public Library Main Branch, Bunker Hill, and Grand Central Market 
More info and RSVP 

Bios: 
Riley Champine is the Associate Director of the University of Richmond’s Digital Scholarship Lab. Before that, he was a Graphics Editor for National Geographic from 2016–2023 and served as the Manager of Digital Cartography. He earned a B.S. in Geography from the University of Oregon, and worked at the UO InfoGraphics Lab from 2013–2015. 

Robert K. Nelson is Director of the Digital Scholarship Lab and Head of Digital Engagement at the University of Richmond’s Boatwright Library. He is editor of American Panorama: An Atlas of United States History, which includes the acclaimed Mapping Inequality project. His digital scholarship has received national recognition from the American Historical Association and the American Studies Association. Nelson teaches courses on U.S. slavery, antislavery movements, and the digital humanities. 

Presented by USC Visions and Voices. Organized by Guoping Huang (Spatial Sciences Institute), Andrzej Rutkowski (Libraries), Meredith Drake Reitan (Graduate School, Public Policy, and Architecture). Co-sponsored by the USC Spatial Sciences Institute, USC Libraries, USC Ahmanson Lab, and Los Angeles Public Library.