Dr. Sara Mata, a lecturer of Sociology at the University of Oklahoma, has been awarded a micro-grant from the Carceral Studies Consortium. The Carceral Studies Consortium, hosted by the Gibbs College of Architecture, brings together faculty, staff, and students from across the University of Oklahoma and beyond to cultivate and support rigorous research, pedagogy, and community engagement toward social transformation.
Dr. Mata will be working with undergraduate student Mariafernanda González for this project. The research will examine the experiences of traditional college-age students and how they have been impacted by immigration detention centers; she will achieve this by gathering testimonies from those who have had direct relationships with individuals at immigration detention centers. There is very little research about how college students recollect their experiences of immigration detention centers, and Dr. Mata’s project will fill this gap.
This project will help researchers begin to understand the gravity and depth of the ways immigration detention centers have a lasting impact on individuals who have encountered them in their lifetime and how these experiences with immigration detention centers have shaped their perspectives. The end goal of Dr. Mata’s research is to bring light to the effects a system has caused on people and humanize the crisis.
This research is a very important look into the often-ignored impacts of the immigration detention system.
Gibbs College of Architecture is proud to recognize Petya Stefanoff, who is pursuing her doctorate in the Planning, Design & Construction (PDC) program, has been appointed the new role of Director of Community Development for the City of Shawnee, Oklahoma. She joined the city in 2024.
Gibbs College of Architecture is pleased to announce that Amber N. Wiley, Ph.D., associate professor in the Division of Planning, Landscape Architecture and Design and director of the Institute for Quality Communities, has received national recognition for her book Model Schools in the Model City. The book has been named a finalist for the 2026 the PROSE Awards.
Gibbs College of Architecture Regional + City Planning Professor of Practice Vanessa Morrison and Associate Professor of Architecture Deborah Richards’ Open Design Collective received top honors at the inaugural BlackSpace Urbanist Collective Studio KIN Pitch Night Competition, held last month in Brooklyn, New York City.
