RJ Millhouse

A spatial ethnographer and humanistic social scientist, RJ explores Black queer geographies, qualitative research methods, interiority, sensation, and design justice. RJ's current book project is under contract with The Ohio State University Press. His book discusses the impact of urbanization on Black queer public cultures. The book explores spatial deprivation, sensation, and economic deprivation under patterns of urbanization across US urban landscapes. RJ's book project focuses primarily on Black queer people and how and to what extent Black queer placemaking is forged as a resistance strategy against cultural erasure following patterns of urbanization. RJ is interested in social design, design empathy, and design justice projects. With an eye toward design justice, RJ prioritizes collaborative and community-focused research projects and design thinking that complicates existing, traditional conceptions of atmosphere, interiority, gender, sexuality, environmental and urban design, and sensation. RJ's work can be found in the Journal of LGBT Studies (UCLA), Feminist Pedagogy (Cal Poly), and Social Theory (University of Kentucky).

RJ is currently a fellow with the Institute for Public Architecture in New York City.

Research Interests

Black queer geographies; Design thinking, Design criticism, Qualitative methods; Design justice

Education

B.A., Macalester College

M.A., Syracuse University

Ph.D., Arizona State University

Courses — 2024 Spring

Courses — 2023 Fall

Southwest ‘25 Institute on Teaching Social Action