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Judith Keller is a research associate in the Geographies of North America working group and at the Heidelberg Center for American Studies. She received her PhD in April 2023. Her doctoral thesis grew out of the research training group Authority and Trust in American Culture, Society, History, and Politics at the Heidelberg Center for American Studies (HCA), in which she explored the significance of trust relations for urban development and particularly in housing policies. Her case studies were all located in US cities, specifically in Washington, DC, Atlanta, and New Orleans. Before pursuing her doctoral studies, Judith studied Geography and English at Heidelberg University and Heidelberg University, Tiffin, Ohio, graduating with a double-major in 2019. In 2019, she was a participant in the Abigail Adams Summer Seminar at Harvard University and in the winter term 2021/22 she was a visiting research scholar at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. In 2022, Judith joined the Radical Housing Journal editorial collective.

Research Areas

Judith Keller applies a socio- and cultural-geographic perspective to urban space, focusing on questions of social justice such as access to housing, education, health services, supermarkets, and urban infrastructure. She is interested in right to the city and housing rights movements and their effect on urban politics. Her research focuses on US-American cities, broadening this perspective with a migration and mobilities approach to the Americas. Further, Judith enjoys thinking about the representation of (urban) space in literature and film, a discipline called Geo-Humanities.

Publications

• Gerhard, U. & Keller, J. (2023): Urbanisierung. In E. Nöthen & V. Schreiber (Eds.): Transformative Geographische Bildung. Berlin & Heidelberg: Springer Spektrum, pp. 85-92.
• Vilenica, A., Can, A., Anderson, D., McElroy, E., Keller, J. , Ferreri, M., Koepke, M., Lancione, M. & Thompson, S. (2023): Life-affirmative struggles for home across borders. Editorial. Radical Housing Journal, 5(1), pp. 1-10.
• Gerhard, U. & Keller, J. (2023): No place for trust - the significance of trust in housing development. Urban Geography, 44(4), pp. 618-639.
• Keller, J. & Morlock, A. (2022): You Promised Me a City – A conversation about assuming responsibilities. Radical Housing Journal, 4(2), pp. 193-202.
• Keller, J. (2022): Der Wiederaufbau von New Orleans. Wie nicht nur der Hurrikan Vertrauen zerstörte. Praxis Geographie 09/2022, pp. 56-57.
• Keller, J. (2022): How Brad Pitt’s green housing dream for Hurricane Katrina survivors turned into a nightmare. The Conversation (31.01.2022).
• Schulz, P. & Keller, J. (2021): Jeder ist sich selbst der Nächste? Geographische Reflexionen zur Veränderung von Nachbarschaft und Zuhause in Zeiten der Corona-Krise. Berichte. Geographie und Landeskunde, 94(4), pp. 300-316.
• Keller, J. & Abud Russell, H. (2021): “Many producers, many protectors!” — Geographical Reflections on Resilient Intercultural Economies in North-West Campeche, Mexico. In S. Garcia Ferrari, H. E. Offerdal, & M. A. Kania (Eds.): Why Latin America Matters. A Collection of Essays, pp. 100-117. Edinburgh: Center for Contemporary Latin American Studies.
• Keller, J. & Gerhard, U. (2021): Die ungleichen Staaten von Amerika. Reflexionen aus humangeographischer Perspektive. Praxis Geographie 10/2021, pp. 4-9.
• Keller, J. & Rever, L. (2021): Falling into the Crevice – COVID-19 Pandemic Puts Spotlight on Housing Disparities in the U.S. Capital. HCA Graduate Blog.
• Gerhard, U., Keller, J. & Werner, C. (2021): Trust and the City. Analyzing Trust from a Socio-Spatial Perspective. In G. Leypoldt & M. Berg (Eds.): Authority and Trust in US Culture and Society. Interdisciplinary Approaches and Perspectives, pp. 111-134. Bielefeld: transcript.
• Keller, J. (2021): Unsichtbare Frauen? - Annäherungen an einen Geographieunterricht aus feministischer Perspektive. In F. Durczok (Ed.): Feministische Pädagogik und Unterricht, pp. 111-124. Baltmannsweiler: Schneider Verlag.
• Keller, J. (2021): Das Andere verstehen lernen. Ästhetische Bildung im fremdsprachlichen Literaturunterricht. In F. Durczok (Ed.): Feministische Pädagogik und Unterricht, pp. 73-86. Baltmannsweiler: Schneider Verlag.
• Keller, J. (2021): Forschungsprojekt zur amerikanischen Wohnraumkrise – ein Fallbeispiel aus der Hauptstadt Washington, D.C.. In: A. Zipf, A. Growe, S. Schmidt & C. Klonner (Eds.): HGG-Journal, Vol. 34, pp. 105-107. Heidelberg: Heidelberger Geographische Gesellschaft.
• Gerhard, U. & Keller, J. (28.05.2020): The Land of (In) Equality– Wie Corona die Ungleichheiten in US-amerikanischen Städten verstärkt. Podcast Corona in den USA.
• Gerhard, U. & Keller, J. (2019): "My Home Is My Castle" - über die Rolle von Vertrauen im Wohnungsbau. Ein Blick auf US-amerikanische Städte. Forum Wohnen und Stadtentwicklung, 6, pp. 300-304.
• Keller, J. (2019): The Spatiality of Trust – Redeveloping New Orleans’s Lower 9th Ward after Hurricane Katrina. In: A. Zipf, A. Growe, S. Schmidt & C. Klonner (Eds.): HGG-Journal, Vol. 33, pp. 206-212. Heidelberg: Heidelberger Geographische Gesellschaft.

Talks

• Keller, J. (2023): From housing biography to political biography – The fight for housing justice in times of crisis. Annual Meeting of the American Association of Geographers, Denver, 23.03.2023.
• Keller, J. (2023): Von der Wohnbiografie zur politischen Biografie - Der Kampf für Wohngerechtigkeit in Zeiten der Krise. Tagung der Arbeitskreise Stadtzukünfte und Geographische Wohnungsmarktforschung, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, 18.03.2023.
• Keller, J. (2023): What would a just city look like? – Notes on critical urban studies. Stockholm University, 06.02.2023.
• Keller, J. (2022): "Living this struggle and fighting this fight” – Using testimonies in geographical research on the US housing crisis. Conference ‘Here, There, and Somewhere in Between: Placing, Practicing, Configuring.’ Eichstätt, 10.11.2022.
• Keller, J. (2022): Non-Profit Housing Development in New Orleans: The Case of Make It Right. Mississippi State University, Starkville, 10.10.2022.
• Keller, J. (2021): A Comparative Perspective on the Global Housing Crisis. American University, Washington, D.C., 17.11.2021.
• Munoz, S., Gerhard, U., Keller, J., Rever, L., & Werner, C. (2021): Panel Discussion: Race, Ethnicity, and Place as an International Vision: Researching Trust and Authority in U.S. Cities. Race, Ethnicity, and Place Conference, Baltimore, 22.10.2021.
• Keller, J. (2021): Housing Challenges and Some Ways Forward. The Case of Germany. World Regions Seminar, University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign, 07.10.2021.
• Keller, J. (2021): We Not Moving! Urban Social Movements and the Fight for a Place to Call Home. 14th International Graduate Conference, JFK Institute Berlin, 02.07.2021.
• Keller, J. (2021): No Right to Stay Put? Forced Mobility and the Fight for a Home in Washington, DC. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Amerikastudien, Heidelberg, 19.06.2021.
• Keller, J. (2021): Urbane Räume des Vertrauens. Ein Blick auf aktuelle Entwicklungen in Washington, DC. Auftaktkonferenz des Forschungsinstituts Gesellschaftlicher Zusammenhalt, Hannover, 09.03.2021.
• Gerhard, U. & Keller, J. (2020): Renaissance oder Krise? Überlegungen zur aktuellen Situation und Zukunft der US-amerikanischen Stadt. Ruperto Carola Ringvorlesung, Heidelberg, 14.12.2020.
• Gerhard, U. & Keller, J. (2020): No Place for Trust: Housing as the New Urban Frontier in Global City Washington, D.C. Global City Seminar, York University, Toronto, 20.11.2020.
• Keller, J. (2019): The Urban Dimension of Trust: A Conceptual and Empirical Perspective. Deutscher Kongress für Geographie, Kiel, 27.09.2019.

Teaching

Winter semester 2022/2023:

• Literature class: Critical Geographies
• Bachelor American Studies: Introduction to Geography, Tutorial

Summer semester 2022:

• Advanced Seminar: Geographies of Home

Winter semester 2021/2022:

• Bachelor American Studies: Introduction to Geography, Tutorial

Summer semester 2021:

• Proseminar Regional Geography: The American South

Winter semester 2020/2021:

• Bachelor American Studies: Introduction to Geography, Tutorial

Summer semester 2020:

• Exkursion and Seminar: From DC to NO - Tracing Urban Geographies in Post-Racial America (in Englischer Sprache; in Kooperation mit Ulrike Gerhard und Wilfried Mausbach, HCA)

Winter semester 2019/2020:

• Bachelor American Studies: Introduction to Geography, Tutorial
• Seminar: Die soziale Stadt - Eine Utopie?

Summer semester 2019:

• Proseminar Regional Geography: The American South
• Research seminar: "My Home Is My Castle" - Über die Rolle von Autorität und Vertrauen in aktuellen Prozessen der Stadtentwicklung (in Kooperation mit Ulrike Gerhard)

Winter semester 2018/2019:

• Bachelor American Studies: Introduction to Geography, Tutorial