New School Grads Rock • Travis Bostick

Travis Bostick (MA in Theories of Urban Practice 2016) is a native New Yorker with a passion for housing. He came to The New School after completing his undergraduate studies at Bard. He chose the Theories of Urban Practice program because it allowed him the freedom to explore the intersections of race and housing from the dimensions of social theory, history, and design. He wanted to spend his time in graduate school thinking critically about the histories of race and housing, and the ways in which historically discriminatory practices contributed to contemporary dimensions of inequity -- particularly how urban housing policy shapes the construction of wealth.

In addition to the breadth of knowledge he gained in the MA program, he built his professional experience working at the ground level with the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC). While at LISC, he provided project management expertise and technical assistance to community-based initiatives.

Following completion of the program, Travis accepted a position as Public Housing Fellow with Enterprise Community Partners’ New York City office. Enterprise is a community development intermediary that works on affordable housing from the dimensions of programming, policy, and capital development. He is working with a small team to build a new initiative focused on public housing, primarily piloting and scaling up programs that support NYCHA as it deals with a $17 billion capital backlog. Meanwhile, he is also lending his expertise as an Independent Consultant to the urban planning firm Karp Strategies, where he works on community engagement strategies for large-scale real estate and public space projects.

Currently, Travis is exploring doctoral programs. He wants to build deeper research expertise for his main passion, the history of race and housing, and more specifically the role of public housing in the evolution of the affordable housing sector.