The making of the campus namescape: A comparison of university naming policies in Canada and the United States

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dc.contributor.authorRose-Redwood, Reuben
dc.contributor.authorRose-Redwood, CindyAnn
dc.contributor.authorAlderman, Derek H.
dc.contributor.authorHackett, Katherine
dc.date.accessioned2025-01-30T19:46:15Z
dc.date.available2025-01-30T19:46:15Z
dc.date.issued2024
dc.description.abstractThe naming of places on university campuses plays an important role in shaping the cultural landscapes and geographies of higher education institutions. In recent years, there have been contentious debates over place renaming at colleges and universities in North America and around the world, which has drawn increasing attention to the politics of toponymic practices in higher education contexts. The decision-making process involved in place naming on a university’s campus is generally informed by the institution’s naming policy and implemented by a university naming committee, yet there is very little scholarship on university naming policy frameworks, procedures, and practices. In this article, we provide a systematic and comparative analysis of university naming policies in Canada and the United States. Drawing on data from more than 2,000 colleges and universities across North America, we assess the level of representation that faculty and students have on university naming committees, institutional commitments to public engagement in the naming process, the value of diversity, and restrictions on corporate naming rights agreements. We conclude that colleges and universities should develop more inclusive and equitable naming policy frameworks to ensure that campus namescapes live up to the ideals of higher education institutions in the twenty-first century.
dc.description.reviewstatusReviewed
dc.description.scholarlevelFaculty
dc.description.sponsorshipReuben Rose-Redwood would like to acknowledge the financial support of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC Insight Grant: 435-2019-0012) as well as the Work Study Program at the University of Victoria.
dc.identifier.citationRose-Redwood, R., Rose-Redwood, C., Alderman, D. H., & Hackett, K. (2024). The making of the campus namescape: A comparison of university naming policies in Canada and the United States. The Professional Geographer, 76(3), 277–288. https://doi.org/10.1080/00330124.2024.2308622
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1080/00330124.2024.2308622
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1828/21036
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherThe Professional Geographer
dc.rightsAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internationalen
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
dc.subjectcommemorative landscape
dc.subjectcritical toponymy
dc.subjecthigher education
dc.subjectplace naming
dc.subjectuniversity naming policy
dc.subject.departmentDepartment of Geography
dc.titleThe making of the campus namescape: A comparison of university naming policies in Canada and the United States
dc.typeArticle

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