University of Richmond Faculty and Students Create Interactive Website Showcasing Housing and Education Research
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND — University of Richmond faculty, staff, and students have created a new, interactive website highlighting research that explores the complex connections between housing segregation and educational inequality in the Richmond region.
The Live and Learn website visualizes the findings of the popular research study — “Confronting School and Housing Segregation in the Richmond Region: Can We Learn and Live Together?” — which was compiled by researchers from the University of Richmond, Virginia Commonwealth University, the Partnership for Housing Affordability, Housing Opportunities Made Equal of Virginia, and the Commonwealth Institute. First released in 2017 and updated in 2024, the study is frequently cited by educators, scholars, and policymakers.
“Our goal was to create a public resource that allows people to understand the deep interconnections between where we live and how we learn,” said Tom Shields, an education and leadership studies professor at the University of Richmond and a co-author of the study. “The site allows users to explore the historical roots and present-day realities of neighborhood segregation and its direct impact on access to quality education across the Richmond region.”
Under the guidance of Shields and Kyle Redican, director of the Spatial Analysis Lab at the University of Richmond, two undergraduate summer research fellows used the software ArcGIS Experience to create an innovative and user-friendly website for the Live and Learn report. The students — Katherine Thomey, Class of 2025, and Helen Mei, Class of 2026 — built a website that features interactive maps, historical timelines, data visualizations, and personal narratives.
“This platform gives people the tools to visualize inequities and begin imagining solutions,” said Redican, who teaches in UR’s Department of Geography, the Environment, and Sustainability. “We wanted to make this important research even more accessible to educators, policymakers, students, and the broader community.”
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