I’m a human geographer who researches and writes about cities, race, cultural production, and the built environment. I conduct archival research—I’m a kind of historian. I say “kind of” because I’m not trained as one, but I use history to trace the development of a phenomenon.

In my first book, I examined how prison-like architectural forms and spatial containment were represented on Chicago’s South Side. Prince’s Minneapolis depicts the city’s soundscape. I am currently working on a book that charts the development of New York City’s built environment. This type of history is influenced by the work of French theorist Michel Foucault. His studies of sex, punishment, knowledge, and power — what he called “genealogy,” derived from the German philosopher Nietzsche — shape my approach to this work.

My genealogies are always grounded in and attentive to place. I explore how phenomena—prison-like containment in Chicago, music in Minneapolis, New York’s built environment—are shaped by place and time. 

I came to this project because I wanted to use my scholarly tools to examine a musician and a city I love. I earned my undergraduate degree in Minnesota and spent a lot of time in Minneapolis. I lived there briefly and always found the city fascinating because of its politics, population, and culture. It was also the birthplace and home of Prince. I became a true fan of his music while living there, mainly because of my then-girlfriend.

After finishing my first book, I began thinking about my second project and decided that Prince and Minneapolis could be interesting topics. I added a section on Minneapolis and music to an undergraduate class I was teaching on race, culture, and geography. From there, I started doing initial research. Then, in the summer of 2016, I took my first of many research trips to the Minnesota Historical Society in St. Paul and the Hennepin County Library in downtown Minneapolis.