Kim Blankenship, American University

Co-Sponsor - Department of Behavioral and Community Health 

About the Presentation

Though considerable research has documented the health impacts of the severe shortage of affordable rental housing in the US, very little of this has considered the experiences of and subsequent consequences for housing providers. Yet this is critical for understanding how housing availability affects population health. Using data from a mixed methods study among residents in low income neighborhoods in New Haven, CT, this talk examines the different forms housing provision takes and considers its consequences for health and well being. It will also suggest how the current legal and policy context creates race and gender inequities in both who provides housing and, in the risks, and benefits associated with doing so.

About the Speaker

Kim M. Blankenship is Professor of Sociology and Founding Director of the Center on Health, Risk and Society at American University, and Associate Dean of Research in AU’s College of Arts and Sciences. She is also Co-Director of the Developmental Core of the DC Center for AIDS Research. Her research and publications focus on structural inequalities of race, gender and class, the mechanisms through which they produce health inequities, and structural interventions to address these inequities. Over the past 15 years, much of this work in the US has focused specifically on the policies and associated practices that underlie mass incarceration and housing vulnerability, and their health impacts. STI/HIV/AIDS are her primary area of health emphasis.    

Note: Online via Zoom - Registration Link.  Upon registration you will receive an automatically generated email with the direct link for the seminar.

COVID-19 Information

MPRC public events for Fall 2021 will be a mix of in person and  online via Zoom(and select hybrid seminars).  For in person events, all event attendees must follow current protocols