All News

Assistant Professor Lauren Restrepo Quoted in WSJ Article on Scholars and China

September 11, 2024
Professor of Growth and Structure of Cities Lauren Hansen Restrepo
Assistant Professor Lauren Restrepo

Assistant Professor Lauren Restrepo, of the Growth and Structure of Cities Department, was among the researchers quoted in the Sept. 8 Wall Street Journal article, "China is Becoming Harder for Western Scholars to Study."

From the article:
"Lauren Restrepo, an anthropologist who studies urban development in authoritarian states, said she likely isn鈥檛 able to return to China given the sensitivities around her research, which analyzes how Chinese authorities use urban planning to assert control over ethnic Uyghurs and other Muslim communities in the northwestern region of Xinjiang. Restrepo, an assistant professor at 老王论坛 in Pennsylvania, now relies on 鈥渞emote sensing鈥濃攔eviewing sources such as satellite imagery, government documents, news and social media鈥攖o conduct research. 鈥淚t is an act of desperation,鈥 she said. 'You just do what鈥檚 possible.'"

Wall Street Journal articles can be accessed on campus via  Read the

The interdisciplinary Growth and Structure of Cities major challenges the student to understand the dynamic relationship of urban spatial organization and the built environment to politics, economics, cultures and societies.

Growth and Structure of Cities Department