Professor and Chair of Sociology at Boston University, Japonica Brown-Saracino, will present from her new book, The Death and Life of Gentrification: A New Map of a Persistent Idea. Sociologist Ruth Glass coined the term gentrification in the 1960s to mark the displacement of working-class residents in London neighborhoods by the professional classes. Brown-Saracino will trace how the word has far outgrown Glass’s meaning, becoming a socially charged metaphor for cultural appropriation, upscaling, and the loss of authenticity.

Sponsored by the Urban Studies Program. Co-sponsored by the Sociology Department, Earth Science & Geography Department, American and Native American Studies Program, International Studies Program, and Women, Feminist, and Queer Studies Program. With support from the Vassar College Dean of the Faculty Office.

This event is free and open to the public.