Between Campus and Community: OSU and the University District, 1920-2010
Loading...
Date
2010-06
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The Ohio State University
Abstract
The Ohio State University, a land-grant institution, is located in Columbus, the fifteenth largest city in the nation. Each other’s oldest neighbor, the university and the adjacent University District neighborhoods have influenced one another and come into conflict throughout the twentieth century. This project explores the twentieth century interactions between the Ohio State University and the University District neighborhoods from a demographic, geographic, architectural, and historical perspective. It uses the experiences of four front-facing streets in the University District from 1920 to the present to ask questions about larger issues of town-gown relations, diversity, conflict, and change over time. Methods include quantitative analysis of demographic trends from Census and city directory data, tracking of architectural changes from maps and photographs, oral history interviews, and examination of OSU and University District archived materials. The project’s findings focus upon the scope of Ohio State’s impact upon the neighborhoods, the changes on the neighborhood streets, and the connections, perceptions, and interactions between OSU and the UD. As present day issues such as student housing and neighborhood development provoke debate, both neighborhood and university actors will benefit from a better understanding of past and present relationships between the university and the community.
Description
Denman 1st Place Humanities (2010)
Keywords
University District, neighborhood change, town-gown relations, Ohio State University