2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Redlining is the practice of systemic disinvestment of resources and services from residents of certain communities based on race and ethnicity. Even after the passage of the Fair Housing Act of 1968, the effects of redlining persist in the form of substandard infrastructure and services in areas that were redlined. In Fall 2022 and Spring 2023, the issue of redlining was used in two first year civil engineering courses to highlight the role of civil engineers in addressing societal issues. In our first semester, first year course (CIVE 101 Introduction to Civil Engineering), redlining was addressed as an example of how policies affect not only social justice issues but also how and where infrastructure is delivered. Building on this introduction to redlining, our second semester first year course (CIVE 102 Geomatics for Civil Engineers) course incorporated work for the Omaha Spatial Justice Project by digitizing georeferenced images from 1955 to help quantify what was lost in redlined areas of Omaha, Nebraska when US Highway 75 was constructed. Students in both classes reflected on why understanding redlining and other social justice issues are important to their future careers as civil engineers. This paper describes what was done in both classes and reflections from both students and instructors.