Dr. Keith Gaddie, Associate Dean of Architecture at the University of Oklahoma, has recently released a book titled The U.S. Supreme Court’s Democratic Spaces. He coauthored the book with his research partner Dr. Jocelyn J. Evans, a Professor of Political Science and the Associate Dean of the College of Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities at the University of West Florida.
The pair also authored a series of four blog posts for Election Law Blog to introduce the topics explored in the book. The posts look into the Supreme Court and other temple style buildings to show how the Supreme Court and similar buildings create meaning in the eyes of the public. You can explore these blog posts by clicking the link below.
The intersection of physical, public space and the construction of meaning is at the center of Dr. Gaddie’s and Dr. Evans’ scholarship. This new book looks at how public spaces like the Supreme Court building may influence the construction of cultural and political meaning.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s Democratic Spaces explores the story of the Supreme Court building’s evolution and its succession of earlier homes in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and New York. The Supreme Court building is just as important of a cultural, social, and political space as it is a physical space. Through these spaces, this book explores the building that houses of the most revered institution of U.S. politics—its origin, history, and meaning as an expression of democratic principles.
The book also looks at how the Supreme Court building shapes Washington D.C. as a space and a place for political action and meaning, yielding a multidimensional view and deeper appreciation of the ways that our physical surroundings manifest who we are as a people and what we value as a society.
Congratulations to Dr. Gaddie on his book release!
Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture professor and Institute for Quality Communities Director Dr. Amber N. Wiley’s book, Model Schools in the Model City: Race, Planning, and Education in the Nation’s Capital, has received two major honors from the Urban History Association.
Research initiated by Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture alumna Naila Hasan during her master’s studies at the University of Oklahoma has continued through faculty collaboration and resulted in a peer-reviewed publication in HERD: Health Environments Research & Design Journal.
Gibbs College of Architecture is pleased to announce Esther Thorp, Tyler Boydstun and Chukwuma Nwokoye as the winners of the 2026 Construction Innovation Translation Hub (CIThub) Student Ideas Competition.
