John Harris, Director of the Regional + City Planning program, recently published an article in a special issue of the Journal of Urban Affairs titled “The gendered postconflict city: Possibilities for more livable urban transformations in Gulu, northern Uganda.” Harris – along with co-authors Daniel Komakech, David Monk, and Maria del Guadalupe Davidson – attempt to develop theory and urban management concepts around the notion of the gendered postconflict city as a unique urban identity. The article also works to re-center the analysis on the everyday experiences, agency, and city building practices of women.
The article presents three realities for understanding the gendered postconflict city: (1) the postconflict gendered city is a liminal space beyond the notions of contingency and fluidity often assigned to African cities, (2) it is a place of deep and abiding trauma, and (3) it is a place of invisibility and precarity for women who self-organize to reduce precarity.
The authors create a series of recommendations for postconflict urban management based on these realities that include recognizing liminality in postconflict planning and setting aside the impulse to prioritize the global competitiveness of postconflict cities above all else. These recommendations have important implications for non-governmental organizations and national development practices.
A project designed by Gibbs College of Architecture faculty member Austin Lightle has been selected for BuildFest 2026, a national art and architecture festival held at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in New York, on the historic grounds of the 1969 Woodstock Music Festival.
Two Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture alumni are helping shape recommendations that could influence affordable housing design and construction across Oklahoma.
The University of Oklahoma Libraries recently welcomed Carl Siegel as an Architecture Librarian and Archivist and Assistant Professor. In his role, Siegel supports students, faculty and staff across the Gibbs College of Architecture while also serving as archivist for the American School of Architecture Archives.
