Of the more than 1,300 local landmarks in the City of Los Angeles, less than three percent—that’s right, three—reference the history or contributions of women. In the Season 5 finale, we hear from some of the people working to change that by amending nominations for existing landmarks (known in L.A. as Historic-Cultural Monuments, or HCMs).

Students Mel James, Leslie Madrigal, and Evan McAvenia discuss their research for an advanced documentation class, in which ten students uncovered women’s connections to designated HCMs. Doctoral student Arabella Delgado shares how she laid the groundwork for the class (taught by alumna Sian Winship) in an internship with the Los Angeles Conservancy. And Chris Morris of the National Trust for Historic Preservation talks about the role of the class in the ongoing Los Angeles Women’s Landmarks Project—a collaboration between the Trust, the Conservancy, and the City’s Office of Historic Resources that seeks to make Los Angeles a model of more equitable landmarking practice.

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As artificial intelligence (AI) transforms modern life, we’re understanding more about the benefits and tradeoffs of its use in generating content. New alum Paul Kim wrote his master’s thesis about how generative AI (genAI) perpetuates false narratives about Asian and Pacific Islander Americans (APIA), and how communities can use genAI to reclaim those narratives.

In this episode, producer Willa Seidenberg talks with Paul about his thesis, Encoding Counter Memories: Artificial Intelligence as a Tool for APIA Community Empowerment. He completed it for his dual master’s degree in heritage conservation and landscape architecture and urbanism.

They discuss ethical concerns like misinformation and data privacy, how bias affects APIA heritage, and how communities can—and must—use it to share their stories and amplify accurate history. Paul’s already on the case as a Past Futures Fellow for Asian and Pacific Islander Americans in Historic Preservation (APIAHiP)!

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An Encore episode with a new update!

A group of architecture students at the University of Southern California wants to do more than just design buildings. They want to work with communities to “un-design'' spatial injustice and leverage the power of residents in shaping their neighborhoods.

In this episode, producer Willa Seidenberg talks with students Reily Gibson and Kianna Armstrong about L.A.'s Sugar Hill, an important neighborhood cut in half by construction of the I-10 Freeway. A nonprofit they co-founded, Architecture + Advocacy, worked with neighborhood partners on a community celebration and a design-build project.

Reily and Willa walk and talk about Sugar Hill's history and legacy of activism, and Kianna shares how a new generation of architecture students is using heritage conservation (even if they don't call it that) to help neighborhoods affected by structural racism and gentrification.

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