The academic study of graffiti and street art is interdisciplinary. Although two scholarly journals (i.e., Nuart Journaland Street Art & Urban Creativity) specialize in this subject, university-level classes are rare and scattered across different departments. No post-secondary institution has a dedicated program or department for this field.
What’s more, none of the major learned societies has a division that brings together scholars working on graffiti and street art. As a result, conducting research in this area can be a little lonely.
Since January 2023, however, John L. Lennon, PhD, a professor of English at the University of Southern Florida, has organized a monthly Zoom meetup (the “Graffiti and Street Art Group”) devoted to graffiti and street art. Except for the summer months, the hour-long sessions typically draw at least ten participants, ranging from graduate students to senior professors who have conducted and published research on graffiti and street art.
Each meeting focuses on a rotating set of topics: participants discuss ongoing research, share recent publications, and occasionally invite someone to present an article or book for group discussion. The conversations are lively and engaging, often leading to new insights and collaborations. Opportunities for publication and conferences that might be interested in papers and chapters about graffiti and street art are also discussed. For example, Lennon is now editing a forthcoming special issue of Visual Inquiry on graffiti/street art and pedagogy, with all articles contributed by members of the group.
The meetings are informal and interdisciplinary, attracting scholars from around the world, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and various parts of Europe. The group now boasts 90 individuals on the listserv. Although attendance varies from month to month, a genuine sense of community has formed among the participants. The meetup now serves as a vital point of connection for researchers studying graffiti and street art across different academic and cultural contexts.
People interested in joining the group should reach out to John at jflennon@usf.edu
Image Credit:
Title: Community (Rusholme, England)
Photographer: Dunk
https://jeffreyianross.com/wp-content/uploads/52208530808_be6de1d8af_o-scaled.jpg14402560Jeffrey Ian Rosshttps://jeffreyianross.com/wp-content/uploads/jeffrey-ian-ross-logo-04.pngJeffrey Ian Ross2025-11-16 05:02:142025-11-16 05:33:35How a Monthly Meet-Up of Scholars of Graffiti and Street Art Builds Community
I can’t remember what month it was, only that snow had begun to fall as we drove from Lethbridge to Calgary. The road wasn’t a highway, just a patchwork of farm grids: a few miles straight, a turn left, a curve right, and again. It was slow going, maybe 90 minutes through sleet and wind before you hit the main highway.
At one bend, we saw a man and a woman standing by the roadside. A First Nations couple. Maybe they were from the nearby Blood Reserve (Kainai Nation), where some of my students lived or came from. I don’t even recall if they had their thumbs out, but they looked desperate.
We pulled over. Natasha stepped out into the sleet to fold down the passenger seat of our two-door ’83 Cutlass. It was cold enough to give someone frostbite or worse
We asked where they were headed. It was somewhere along our route. They climbed into the back seat and sat quietly, never speaking to each other the whole time. Both of their jackets appeared too thin for the weather. The woman stared out the window, her face turned away from us.
Natasha and I spoke in French with each other, speculating about their situation. Maybe they had a gun or a knife. Perhaps they were high. I worried we were being rude, talking about them in a language they might not understand.
When we reached their stop, they thanked us and stepped into the snow. We watched them go, hoping they’d make it through the night. Some people might’ve driven on, afraid. But we couldn’t leave them there to freeze. Whatever their story, helping them felt like the only right thing to do.
Photo Credit:
Title: A Curve Ahead
Photographer: Paul Jerry
https://jeffreyianross.com/wp-content/uploads/5231438719_77be9ab4ac_o-scaled.jpg19202560Jeffrey Ian Rosshttps://jeffreyianross.com/wp-content/uploads/jeffrey-ian-ross-logo-04.pngJeffrey Ian Ross2025-11-09 13:20:372025-11-09 13:22:06Fear and Kindness on the Road to Calgary
Since the start of the new Trump administration (early 2025), we’ve seen an increase in federal law enforcement operations in major U.S. cities. In New York, Chicago, and Denver, federal agents (especially Immigration and Customs Enforcement – ICE) have conducted widespread immigration enforcement actions, often without coordination with local police. In Newark, residents filmed armed federal officers making arrests outside schools. In Los Angeles, reports emerged of families afraid to take their children to medical appointments for fear of encountering enforcement teams.
Public opposition to ICE activities has been intense. These operations are eroding the already fragile trust between local police and the communities they serve.
Police–community relations have been a problem for decades. Since at least the 1950s, police chiefs, police commissioners, and directors of public safety have tried one initiative after another (e.g., “neighborhood watch,” community policing, etc.) to build, strengthen, or improve their relationship with racial and ethnic minorities. Programs like Cincinnati’s collaborative agreement after the 2001 riots showed how sustained engagement could reduce tension and crime simultaneously. Other efforts, like superficial “listening sessions” without follow-through, produced only cynicism.
But the principle has remained constant across both successes and failures: trust is the foundation of effective policing. Without it, witnesses don’t come forward. Victims don’t report crimes. Communities become less safe for everyone.
Many chiefs hesitate to speak out, worried about jeopardizing federal funding streams or creating conflicts with federal partners they depend on for task forces and resources. They may also worry about pushback from city and county councils and the rank and file who may have Republican Party sentiments. These are important considerations. But they pale in comparison to the damage being done right now to relationships that took years to build and can be destroyed in weeks.
If today’s chiefs truly believe that community trust matters, they can’t stay silent while federal agents damage the very relationships they’ve spent careers trying to repair. Speaking out doesn’t require grandstanding. At least four possible actions can be taken:
Issuing Joint statements from organizations such as the Major Cities Chiefs Association or the International Chiefs of Police, making clear that uncoordinated federal enforcement undermines local public safety
Make Public announcements (via media channels, at city or county councils, etc.) that local officers will not participate in or provide information for immigration enforcement operations.
Directly communicate with affected communities about what role local police will and won’t play.
Collect and disseminate data that indicates how these operations impact crime reporting and community cooperation.
Admittedly, this will create tension with federal authorities. But protecting community trust isn’t a partisan position. It’s a professional imperative. Chiefs (and those coming up in police organizations behind them) who’ve built their careers on the principle that legitimacy matters can’t abandon it when political winds shift.
Silence is complicity. And it’s long past time for leadership.
Photo Credit
Photographer: Paul Goyette
Content: Activists protesting against ICE confront Chicago police,
https://jeffreyianross.com/wp-content/uploads/54580851557_fc81173975_o-scaled.jpg17072560Jeffrey Ian Rosshttps://jeffreyianross.com/wp-content/uploads/jeffrey-ian-ross-logo-04.pngJeffrey Ian Ross2025-11-02 13:13:312025-11-02 13:27:39America’s Police Chiefs Must Speak Out
How a Monthly Meet-Up of Scholars of Graffiti and Street Art Builds Community
/by Jeffrey Ian RossThe academic study of graffiti and street art is interdisciplinary. Although two scholarly journals (i.e., Nuart Journal and Street Art & Urban Creativity) specialize in this subject, university-level classes are rare and scattered across different departments. No post-secondary institution has a dedicated program or department for this field.
What’s more, none of the major learned societies has a division that brings together scholars working on graffiti and street art. As a result, conducting research in this area can be a little lonely.
Since January 2023, however, John L. Lennon, PhD, a professor of English at the University of Southern Florida, has organized a monthly Zoom meetup (the “Graffiti and Street Art Group”) devoted to graffiti and street art. Except for the summer months, the hour-long sessions typically draw at least ten participants, ranging from graduate students to senior professors who have conducted and published research on graffiti and street art.
Each meeting focuses on a rotating set of topics: participants discuss ongoing research, share recent publications, and occasionally invite someone to present an article or book for group discussion. The conversations are lively and engaging, often leading to new insights and collaborations. Opportunities for publication and conferences that might be interested in papers and chapters about graffiti and street art are also discussed. For example, Lennon is now editing a forthcoming special issue of Visual Inquiry on graffiti/street art and pedagogy, with all articles contributed by members of the group.
The meetings are informal and interdisciplinary, attracting scholars from around the world, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and various parts of Europe. The group now boasts 90 individuals on the listserv. Although attendance varies from month to month, a genuine sense of community has formed among the participants. The meetup now serves as a vital point of connection for researchers studying graffiti and street art across different academic and cultural contexts.
People interested in joining the group should reach out to John at jflennon@usf.edu
Image Credit:
Title: Community (Rusholme, England)
Photographer: Dunk
Fear and Kindness on the Road to Calgary
/by Jeffrey Ian RossI can’t remember what month it was, only that snow had begun to fall as we drove from Lethbridge to Calgary. The road wasn’t a highway, just a patchwork of farm grids: a few miles straight, a turn left, a curve right, and again. It was slow going, maybe 90 minutes through sleet and wind before you hit the main highway.
At one bend, we saw a man and a woman standing by the roadside. A First Nations couple. Maybe they were from the nearby Blood Reserve (Kainai Nation), where some of my students lived or came from. I don’t even recall if they had their thumbs out, but they looked desperate.
We pulled over. Natasha stepped out into the sleet to fold down the passenger seat of our two-door ’83 Cutlass. It was cold enough to give someone frostbite or worse
We asked where they were headed. It was somewhere along our route. They climbed into the back seat and sat quietly, never speaking to each other the whole time. Both of their jackets appeared too thin for the weather. The woman stared out the window, her face turned away from us.
Natasha and I spoke in French with each other, speculating about their situation. Maybe they had a gun or a knife. Perhaps they were high. I worried we were being rude, talking about them in a language they might not understand.
When we reached their stop, they thanked us and stepped into the snow. We watched them go, hoping they’d make it through the night. Some people might’ve driven on, afraid. But we couldn’t leave them there to freeze. Whatever their story, helping them felt like the only right thing to do.
Photo Credit:
Title: A Curve Ahead
Photographer: Paul Jerry
America’s Police Chiefs Must Speak Out
/by Jeffrey Ian RossSince the start of the new Trump administration (early 2025), we’ve seen an increase in federal law enforcement operations in major U.S. cities. In New York, Chicago, and Denver, federal agents (especially Immigration and Customs Enforcement – ICE) have conducted widespread immigration enforcement actions, often without coordination with local police. In Newark, residents filmed armed federal officers making arrests outside schools. In Los Angeles, reports emerged of families afraid to take their children to medical appointments for fear of encountering enforcement teams.
Public opposition to ICE activities has been intense. These operations are eroding the already fragile trust between local police and the communities they serve.
Police–community relations have been a problem for decades. Since at least the 1950s, police chiefs, police commissioners, and directors of public safety have tried one initiative after another (e.g., “neighborhood watch,” community policing, etc.) to build, strengthen, or improve their relationship with racial and ethnic minorities. Programs like Cincinnati’s collaborative agreement after the 2001 riots showed how sustained engagement could reduce tension and crime simultaneously. Other efforts, like superficial “listening sessions” without follow-through, produced only cynicism.
But the principle has remained constant across both successes and failures: trust is the foundation of effective policing. Without it, witnesses don’t come forward. Victims don’t report crimes. Communities become less safe for everyone.
Many chiefs hesitate to speak out, worried about jeopardizing federal funding streams or creating conflicts with federal partners they depend on for task forces and resources. They may also worry about pushback from city and county councils and the rank and file who may have Republican Party sentiments. These are important considerations. But they pale in comparison to the damage being done right now to relationships that took years to build and can be destroyed in weeks.
If today’s chiefs truly believe that community trust matters, they can’t stay silent while federal agents damage the very relationships they’ve spent careers trying to repair. Speaking out doesn’t require grandstanding. At least four possible actions can be taken:
Admittedly, this will create tension with federal authorities. But protecting community trust isn’t a partisan position. It’s a professional imperative. Chiefs (and those coming up in police organizations behind them) who’ve built their careers on the principle that legitimacy matters can’t abandon it when political winds shift.
Silence is complicity. And it’s long past time for leadership.
Photo Credit
Photographer: Paul Goyette
Content: Activists protesting against ICE confront Chicago police,