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Metropolitan Policy Center
4400 Massachusetts Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20016
United States
2024-2025 Academic Year Events
Upcoming Events:
Wednesday, October 2 at 5:15 pm
MPC will co-sponsoran event at the , will feature , Director for the Center on Politics and Race in America at Rutgers University–Newark. Dr. Jones will be discussing his 2024 book .
Tuesday, October 22nd at 5:30 pm
On Tuesday, October 22 at 5:30 pm in Kerwin 301, MPCwill host , and for a moderated discussion titled "What Does Chicago Teach Us About Urban Politics in DC andBeyond?”
Slow and Sudden Violence Book Talks
MPC Director will be discussing his new book, , at bookstores and universities across the country and abroad. InSlow and Sudden Violence, Dr. Hyra links police violence to an ongoing cycle of racial and spatial urban redevelopment repression. By delving into the real estate histories of St. Louis and Baltimore, he shows how housing and community development policies advance neighborhood inequality by segregating, gentrifying, and displacing Black communities. Book talks include:
- (Philadelphia, PA)
- (New York City, NY)
- (Toronto, Canada)
- (Boston, MA)
- (Chicago, IL)
- (Heidelberg, Germany)
Past Events
Academic Year 2023-2024 Events
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
gave the annual Spring lecture, discussing the 2020 BLM protests and the urban uprisings of the 1960s. In unprecedented numbers, protestors took to the streets of cities through the United States and the world after the murder of George Floyd. Dr. Sugruecomparedthe "long hot summers" of the civil rights and black power era with the social movements of 2020 and beyond.
Thursday, April 4, 2024
The Metropolitan Policy Center concluded it's Spring Urban Speaker Series with . Dr. Ocejo discussed his book,Sixty Miles Upriver:Gentrification and Race in a Small American City.Sixty Miles Uprivertells the story of how Newburgh started gentrifying, describing what happens when White creative professionals seek out racially diverse and working-class communities and revealing how gentrification is increasingly happening outside large city centers in places where it unfolds in new ways.
Thursday, February29, 2024
was the second guest speaker for our Urban Speaker Series event. Dr. Parker discussed his book project entitled,Bad Reputation: How We Think We Know What We Think We Know About Cities and Neighborhoods, in which investigates therole of merchants in the social production and maintenance of neighborhood reputation.
Thursday, February 22, 2024
The Metropolitan Policy Center hosted it's first Urban Speaker Series event with guest speaker. Dr. Boston discussedher book projectentitled,The “New” New York: Race, Space, and Power in Gentrifying Brooklyn, and explores the racial operations of gentrification in her hometown of Brooklyn, New York. In it, she illuminates how histories of race and structural racism and the rise of colorblindness and neoliberalism have shaped the making and unmaking of the borough’s Black communities.
Wednesday,September 27th, 2023
The Metropolitan Policy Center co-sponsored abook discussion event over the book, Corruption Plots.This event featured co-authorsMalini Ranganathan and David Pike, with discussantSamantha Agarwal, and moderatorLindsey Green-Simms.
Wednesday,September 6th, 2023
The Metropolitan Policy Center co-sponsored abook event.This eventfeatured author Katie J. Wells, with discussant Dan Kerr, and moderator Malini Ranganathan. This gathering showcased key findings from Wells’ new Princeton University Press book,Disrupting D.C.: The Rise of Uber and the Fall of the City.
Academic Year 2022-2023 Events
Thursday, November 17, 2022
Urban Speaker Series: Jennifer Cobbina
American University, Kerwin 2, 5:30pm- 6:30pm
There will also be a virtual option for thisevent.
Thursday, October 20, 2022
Urban Speaker Series: Colin Gordon
American University, Kerwin 301, 5:30pm-6:30pm
Thursday, Febuary 23,2023
Movie screening of Barry Farm: Community, Land & Justice in Washington, DC.The documentary film will be followed by a panel featuring co-directors,, and., who is finishing a book on the development of Barry Farm. American University, Kerwin 301, 5:30pm-7:30pm.
Academic Year 2020-2021 Events
Thursday, June 10, 2021
A Right To The City Author Talk: Shirikiana Aina and Merawi Gerima
Virtual Program, 6:30pm - 8:15pm
Wednesday, April 21, 2021
A Right To The City Author Talk: Byron Hurt
Virtual Program, 7:00pm - 8:45pm
Thursday, March 11, 2021
Virtual Program, 5:30pm - 7:30pm
Thursday, November 5, 2020
Virtual Program, 5:30pm - 6:45pm
Watch .
Thursday, October 1, 2020
Virtual Program, 5:30pm - 6:45pm
Watch .
Thursday, September 3, 2020
A Right To The City Author Talk: Lauren Pearlman
Virtual Program, 5:30pm - 6:45pm
Watch .
Academic Year 2019-2020 Events
Saturday, September 7, 2019
Woodridge Library,
Saturday, October 19, 2019
Mt. Pleasant Neighborhood Library,
Saturday, November 16, 2019
Mt. Pleasant Neighborhood Library,
Saturday, January 18, 2020
Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum,
Tuesday, January 21, 2020
Saturday, February22, 2020
Anacostia Smithsonian Museum,
Academic Year 2018-2019 Events
May 29, 2018
Derek Hyra, MPC Director, American University
Howard Theatre's Crucial Role in the Community Before & After the 1968 Riots
WTD Meeting Room, Shaw Neighborhood Library, 7:00pm
June 9, 2018
ACM 50th Anniversary Program: Author Talk with Dr. Derek Hyra - "Race, Class, and Politics in the Cappuccino City"
Smithsonian's Anacostia Community Museum, 1:00pm -3:00pm
August 2, 2018
Annie E. Casey Gentrification Seminar
Annie E. Casey Foundation, Baltimore, MD, 8:00am - 5:00pm
September 18, 2018
Ernesto Casteneda, American University
Busboys and Poets, 5th & K, 6:30pm - 7:30pm
September 21, 2018
, , Carolyn Gallaher,
SIS Founder's Room, 12:30pm - 2:00pm
September 26, 2018
Michael Bader, ,
SISFounder's Room, 7:00pm - 8:30pm
October 10, 2018
, Georgetown University
American University, Kerwin Hall,2:30pm - 4:00pm
October 24, 2018
, The Washington Post
American University, Kerwin Hall, 2:30pm - 4:00pm
October 31, 2018
, University of Maryland
American University, Kerwin Hall, 2:30pm - 4:00pm
November 14, 2018
, Urban Institute
American University, Kerwin Hall, 2:30pm - 4:00pm
November 28, 2018
, Woodrow Wilson Center
, GWU &UMD
American University, Kerwin Hall, 2:30pm - 4:00pm
January 30, 2019
, Bowdoin College
American University, Kerwin Hall, 4:00pm – 5:00pm
February 13, 2019
, Purdue University
American University, Kerwin Hall, 4:00pm – 5:00pm
February 27, 2019
, San Jose State University
American University, Kerwin Hall,4:00pm – 5:00pm
March 1, 2019
Co-sponsored with theCenter for Latin American & Latino Studies
American University,SIS Founder’s Room, 1:00pm - 5:30pm
March 3, 2019
In conjunction with the .
George Washington University, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
March 6, 2019
, University of Southern California
, Harvard University
, Howard University
, Brown University
Co-sponsored with George Washington University and Wilson Center’s Urban Sustainability Lab
Woodrow Wilson Center, 2:00pm - 5:30pm
March 10, 2019
In conjunction with the .
Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum, 2:00pm - 4:00pm
March 27, 2019
Derek Hyra, American University
American University, East Quad Building, 2:30pm – 4:00pm
March 30, 2019
In conjunction with the .
Mount Pleasant Library, 2:00pm
April 3, 2019
, Professor, Harvard University
Annual Spring Lecture:
SIS Founder’s Room, 4:00pm to 5:00pm with a reception to follow
April 7, 2019
In conjunction with the .
Watha T. Daniel-Shaw Library, 2:00pm - 3:30pm
July 6, 2019
Deanwood Library,2:00pm - 3:30pm
Academic Year 2017-2018 Events
September 26, 2017
, Assistant Professor, University of Maryland
Book Panel forTrespassers? Asian Americans and the Battle for Suburbia
Woodrow Wilson Center, 11:00 am to 1:00 pm
October 10, 2017
Derek Hyra, Associate Professor, American University
DC's Juanita E. Thornton Library, 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm
October 26, 2017
, Executive Director, DC's Southwest BID
American University, Kerwin Hall,5:30 pm to 6:30 pm
November 1, 2017
, Professor, George Washington University
Inequality, Occupy, and the Ongoing Financial Crisis
American University, Kogod School of Business,4:00 pm to 5:00 pm
November 9, 2017
, Researcher at Colby College
&, Assistant Professor at University of Maryland
Book Panel forChocolate City: A History of Race and Democracy in the Nation's Capital
American University,Mary Graydon Center,9:30 am to 11:30 am
November 9, 2017
Scott Kratz, Director, DC's 11th Street Bridge Park
Is it a Park or a Bridge?
American University, Kerwin Hall, 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm
November 28, 2017
, Professor, Yale University
The Cosmopolitan Canopy in the Age of Trump
American University, Kerwin Hall,12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
March 7, 2018
, Provost, Northwestern University
Race, History, and Higher Education: When Blackness Comes to Campus
American University SIS Founders Room, 4:00 pm -5:00 pm
April 4, 2018
, Assistant Professor, University of the District of Columbia
Book Launch forCarving Out the Commons: Tenant Organizing & Housing Cooperatives in Washington, D.C.
American University,Katzen Arts Center, 4:00 pm -5:00 pm
April 10, 2018
, CEO, Community Preservation Corporation
& Derek Hyra, MPC Director
&Ali Solis, CEO, Make Room USA
Affordable Housing Symposium
American University, McDowell Formal Lounge, 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm
April 12, 2018
, Professor, George Washington University
&, Professor, MIT Urban Planning
&, Judge, Anne Arundel County Circuit Court
&, CEO, NCRC
&, Professor, George Washington University
&, Professor, George Washington University
Bottom-up Politics
Woodrow Wilson Center, 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm
Academic Year 2016-2017 Events
September 13, 2016
Michael Musheno, Professor of Law, University of Oregon
Youth Conflict: Trust and Control in a High-Poverty School
American University, School of International Service,4:00pm -5:00pm
October 3, 2016
Michael Bader, Assistant Professor,American University
&Lynn Addington, Professor, American University
DC Area Survey Report
American University, SIS Founder's Room, 10:00am - 12:00pm
October 11, 2016
, Associate Professor, University of Georgia
Police-Community Dialogues Around Use of Force Policy and Practices: Opportunities Lost and Opportunity Costs
American University, School of International Service, 4:00pm -5:00pm
October 19, 2016
, Executive Director, DC Housing Authority
Public Engagement Series
American University, Kerwin Hall,5:30pm - 6:30pm
November 3, 2016
, Associate Professor, Emory University
Urban Speaker Series
American University, School of International Service, 4:00pm -5:30pm
November 15, 2016
James Wright II, Doctoral Student, American University
Urban Speaker Series
American University, School of International Service, 4:00pm -5:30pm
November 30, 2016
, City Manager, District of Columbia
Public Engagement Series
American University, Kerwin Hall,11:20am - 12:20pm
January 24, 2017
, Doctoral Student,Florida International University
Police-Community Relations, Organizational Practices, and Body Cameras
American University, School of International Service, 4:00pm -5:00pm
February 7, 2017
, Professor, University of Missouri-Columbia
What Do the Data Show? Law Enforcement Killings in the U.S. in 2014
American University, School of International Service, 4:00pm -5:00pm
February 28, 2017
, Assistant Professor, University of Maryland
Somos Langley Park: Equitable Development along Maryland's Purple Line
American University, Mary Graydon Center, 4:00pm -5:00pm
March 29, 2017
, Professor, Columbia University
Annual Spring Lecture: Promoting a Culture of Health in American Cities
American University, Kerwin Hall, 4:00pm -6:00pm
April 18, 2017
, Doctoral Candidate, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
Building Inclusive Neighborhoods: Assessing Socio-Spatial Implications of Transit-Oriented Development
American University, School of International Service, 4:00pm -5:00pm
April 26, 2017
Carolyn Gallaher, Professor, American University
& , author, historian, & tour guide in Washington, D.C.
Migration & the City: Politics, Poetry, Music in Washington, D.C.
American University, Hughes Formal Lounge, 9:00am - 3:00pm
Academic Year 2015-2016 Events
September 8, 2015
John Carruthers, Program Director,George Washington University
Quality of Life in Korea: Evidence from the Seoul Housing Market
American University, School of International Service, 4:00pm -5:00pm
September 15, 2015
, Professor, University of Washington
Places in Need: The Changing Geography of Poverty and the American Safety Net
American University, School of International Service, 4:00pm -5:00pm
October 6, 2015
, Professor,Columbia University
White Entry into Black Neighborhoods: Advent of an Integrationist Era or Gentrification?
American University, School of International Service, 4:00pm -5:00pm
October 14, 2015
, Professor, University of DC
Derek Hyra, MPC Director, American University
, Chief Curator, Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum
, Professor, University of Mardland, Baltimore County
Brett Williams, Professor, American University
"Chocolate City" Transformed: Gentrification in DC
American University, Anderson Hall, 10:30am -12:30pm
October 20, 2015
Constance Lindsay, Professorial Lecturer, American University
Explaining the Contexts that Black and White Middle Class Families Face: Implications for Adolescent AchievementAmerican University, School of International Service, 4:00pm -5:00pm
October 22, 2015
Maryann P. Feldman, Professor, University of North Carolina
Corporate Strategy & The Wealth of Regions
American University, Kogod School of Business, 1:00pm -2:30pm
November 3, 2015
Michael Gusmano, Research Scholar, Hastings Center
Forum on Health, Homelessness, and Poverty
American University, SIS Founder's Room,12:00pm -5:30pm
November 5, 2015
, Distinguished Professor, Wayne State University
Driving Detroit: The Quest for Respect in the Motor City
American University, School of International Service, 4:00pm -5:00pm
November 17, 2015
, Associate Professor,Northeastern University
Residential Insecurity and the Right to Stay Put in Urban IndiaAmerican University, School of International Service, 4:00pm -5:00pm
January 14, 2016
2016 Greater Washington Economic Conference
Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner, 7:15am -11:30am
February 11, 2016
, Associate Professor, Johns Hopkins University
American University, 12:00pm -1:15pm
February 25, 2016
Derek Hyra, MPC Director, American University
, Professor, American University
Book Launch:Capital Dilemma: Growth and Inequality in Washington, DCAmerican University, School of International Service, 4:00pm -5:00pm
March 1, 2016
Carolyn Gallaher, Associate Professor, American University
The Politics of Staying Put: Condo Conversion and Tenant Right-to-Buyin Washington, DC
American University, School of International Service, 4:00pm -5:00pm
March 15, 2016
, Associate Professor, Cornell University
Gentrification and Political Destabilization
American University, School of International Service, 4:00pm -5:00pm
March 17, 2016
, Washington Post Senior Regional Correspondent
Politics Today in DC and the Region
American University, Kerwin Hall,5:30pm -6:30pm
March 24, 2016
, Professor, Howard University
Technology and the City
American University, School of International Service, 4:00pm - 6:00pm
March 29, 2016
, President, Russell Sage Foundation, &Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Public Policy, University of Michigan
April 5, 2016
, Assistant Professor, Cornell University
The Spillover Effects of HOPE IV: Population Dynamics, Neighborhood Change, and Durable Spatial Inequalities
American University, School of International Service, 4:00pm -5:00pm
April 12, 2016
, Photographer
Fairy Tales from the Fault Lines: A Visual Journal from DC's Changing Neighborhoods
American University, School of International Service, 4:00pm -5:00pm
April 14, 2016
Christopher Ballard, Founder, McWilliams | Ballard Real Estate
Transition from Undesirable to Hip DC Neighborhood: Catalysts and Effects of Change
American University, Kerwin Hall, 5:30pm -6:30pm
May 18, 2016
Book Panel and Discussion:Urban Neighborhoods in a New Era: Revitalization Politics in the Postindustrial City
Wilson Center Boardroom, 11:00am -1:00pm
Academic Year 2014-2015 Events
October 7, 2014
Derek Hyra, MPC Director, American University
, Professor, American University
Capital Dilemma: Growth and Inequality in Washington, DC
Woodrow Wilson Center, 9:00am - 5:00pm
October 14, 2014
Michael Bader, Assistant Professor, American University
Neighborhood Stigma and the Negative Space of Neighborhood EffectsAmerican University, School of International Service, 4:00pm -5:30pm
October 16, 2014
Robert Burns, President, City First Homes
Vanishing Affordable Housing and Gentrification in Washington, D.C.
American University, Kerwin Hall, 5:30pm -6:30pm
November 11, 2014
Brandi Summers, Ph.D. Candidate, University of California, Santa Cruz
H Street, Main Street, and the Neoliberal Aesthetics of Cool
American University, School of International Service, 4:00pm -5:30pm
November 14, 2014
Sonya Grier, Associate Professor, American University
Film on Dog Parks & Coffee Shops: Diversity Seeking in Changing Neighborhoods
American University, School of International Service, 4:00pm -5:30pm
November 19, 2014
Metropolitan Policy Center Kickoff Event
American University,Mary Graydon Center,4:30pm -6:30pm
January 27, 2015
Taryn Morrissey, Assistant Professor, American University
Head Start and Children’s School Readiness: Variations by Family and Neighborhood Poverty
American University, School of International Service, 4:00pm -5:30pm
February 10, 2015
Sonya Grier, Associate Professor, American University
Film on Dog Parks & Coffee Shops: Diversity Seeking in Changing Neighborhoods
American University, School of International Service, 4:00pm -5:30pm
February 24, 2015
, Assistant Professor,Georgetown University
No Place Like Home: Wealth, Community & the American Dream
American University, School of International Service, 4:00pm -5:30pm
March 17, 2015
, Professor, Harvard University
The Effects of Living in Poor Urban Neighborhoods
American University, SIS Founders Room, 4:00pm -5:00pm
March 19, 2015
, Journalist, Speaker, Consultant
, Contributing Writer, Washington City Paper
Dream City: Race, Power, and the Decline of Washington, D.C.
American University, Kerwin Hall, 7:00pm -8:00pm
March 24, 2015
Bradley Hardy, Assistant Professor,American University
The Effect of the District of Columbia's Supplemental EITC on Poverty, Employment, and Income Growth
American University, School of International Service, 4:00pm -5:30pm
April 7, 2015
David Pike, Professor, American University
Slum Lore: What Cultural Studies Can Tell Us about Urban Inequality
American University, School of International Service, 4:00pm -5:30pm
April 14, 2015
, Assistant Professor, Johns Hopkins University
A Little Insurance: Landlords, Colored People, and Forgotten Uses of the Federal Housing Administration
American University, School of International Service, 4:00pm -5:30pm
April 14, 2015
Abeer Mashni, Carnegie Centennial Visiting Fellow, American University
Reforming Local Government and State Building in Palestine
American University, Bender Library, 2:30pm -4:30pm
April 21, 2015
, Assistant Professor, University of Maryland, College Park
The Right to Suburbia: Redevelopment and Resistance on the Urban Edge
American University, School of International Service, 4:00pm -5:30pm
Academic Year 2021-2022 Events
Thursday, October 20, 2022
Urban Speaker Series: Colin Gordon
American University, Kerwin 301, 5:30pm-6:30pm
Saturday, April 23, 2022
MLK Jr. Memorial Library, 3pm- 6pm
Wednesday, April 6, 2022
Coming 'Home' to Cappuccino City: Gentrification
American University, Kerwin 301, 5:30pm- 7pm
Wednesday, March30, 2022
Urban Speaker Series: Michael Fisher
American University, Kerwin 301, 5:30pm- 6:30pm
Wednesday, March17, 2022
Annual Spring Lecture with Loretta Lees
Virtual Program, 4pm- 5pm
Wednesday, October 27, 2021
: Gentrification and Criminal Justice in the District of Columbia
Virtual Program, 3pm- 4pm
Watch
Wednesday, October 20, 2021
Urban Speaker Series:
Virtual Program, 5:30pm – 6:30pm
Thursday, September 16, 2021
Sine Distinguished Lecturer: Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot of Chicago
Virtual Program, 1:00pm - 2:00pm
Watch