Oct. 1: 'Traumatic Urbanization' is Topic in Geography Colloquium

Friday, October 1, 2021
3:00 PM - 4:15 PM
Virtual event

Mankato, Minn. -- Minnesota State University, Mankato's Department of Geography is holding 11 events in its fall 2021 Geography Colloquium, with events running from Sept. 10 through Dec. 3 on 11 fall Fridays from 3-4:15 p.m. The events are open and free to all and can be accessed through Zoom at https://minnstate.zoom.us/j/98025164690. The passcode is 618435.

The next event is Friday, Oct. 1, when Matthew Jelacic will discuss his recent work on “Traumatic Urbanization.”

According to Jelacic in a provided preview of his talk: “Today there are about 1 billion people living in slums, a quarter of all people who live in an urban area live in an area characterized by its lack of infrastructure. By 2050 that number will increase to more than 3 billion people; almost half of the people living in cities and almost a third of all people will live in a slum without any meaningful access to clean water, sanitation, electricity, clinics, schools, transportation, or public space.”

Jelacic, who studies urbanization, infrastructure and climate change migration, holds degrees from Pratt Institute, Harvard, and Oxford; he has served on the faculty at the University of Colorado, as a Global Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and as a Franklin Fellow at the US Agency for International Development. He is a former Harvard Loeb Fellow, Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Scholar-in-Residence, and recipient of the American Institute of Architects Henry Adams Award and Medal.

The Geography Colloquium is the longest-running speaker series at Minnesota State Mankato. The complete fall 2021 schedule is listed below.