Name: Jamie L. Worms

Year of graduation: 2006 from UMD: BS Honors in Geography

Year of graduation: 2009 from GWU: MA in Geography

Major: Geography  

Minor: Geography

Current employment status:

Employer: Louisiana State University

Position: Instructor in the Department of Geography & Anthropology and Pruitt Fellow

Did you/do you currently go to graduate school? Yes. If so:

·         School: Louisiana State University (LSU)

·         Program: Doctoral Program in Geography & Anthropology

·         Degree: PhD in Geography & Anthropology

Current Research:

My current research focus rests at the intersection of mega-events, community development, and urban transformation. In preparation for the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games, the city of Rio de Janeiro has implemented Units of Police Pacification (UPPs) in selected favelas that had been previously governed through the manipulation of drug traffickers and militias. In addition to limited state-sponsored social infrastructure,these newly “pacified” favelas have recently been receiving physical infrastructure including trams, cable-ways, roads, and attraction maps. The implementation of this new infrastructure has started to reorder and re-purpose the social space of Rio’s favelas. In addition to the standard qualitative research methods including ethnographic interviews, participant observation, and archival data, I administered a 5-month mental mapping exercise with the residents of favela Morro da Providência to evaluate their perceptions associated with the production and transformation of social space in their community. The overall purpose of my current research is to clarify the discourse concerning favela urbanization and integration as a state-sponsored ideology and to critique the role of government in the mega-event planning process.