Physical Infrastructurres

I’ve recently started a new research project, into the physical infrastructures of Wesleyan. Many of the buildings on this campus are named after old, rich people, who have colonial histories of wealth and more. Our new Public Affairs Center, the Frank Center, was named after a Chevron executive who sexually assaulted a student at a board retreat. Indian Hill Ceremony, which borders our university, had bodies of native Americans dug up so they could be thrown out and replaced with white ones. Contending with these histories is essential to understanding this campus as we know it, and I, along with the student activist group Disorientation am, am interested in mapping it out. It’s also a way to understand the activist history of campus — what histories of support, creativity and justice are embedded in this place, in spite of it’s colonial history?

Above is a first draft of the map, as of 12/11/24. It includes Wesleyan’s new science center, High and Low Rise, the Beman Triangle, Indian Hill Cemetary, the Frank Center for Public Affairs, the Shapiro Writing Center, the former site of the Long Lane School for girls, and a site that marks the location of the Wesleyan Solidarity Encampment.

This post will be updated as the year progresses — if you have a location + history to suggest, please do below!