Is Athens also designed for African students ?

Being an African student living in Athens represents a challenge other than the expected social and academical integration. When looking at the beautiful facilities' arrangement and shops, it is difficult at first for a native to see how exclusive the town of Athens is. In fact, for simple everyday activities, such as doing grocery shopping, going to the hair salon, or buying products adapted to Africans' hair or skin, becomes difficult. Many of the Africans students have to travel several miles to Columbus to be able to have access to those commodities. Having access to commodities such as "African" food, beauty products, or haircuts adapted to Africans' hair, participates grandly in the process of adaptation, and "homemaking." According to Macgregor (2000), "The process of homemaking is a cultural one. The resonance of milieus and territories are cultural in that the specific expression of an object or space will be differentially inflected hazed on culture. Culture is meaning-making, and so the meaning effects of the aggregate of what I am calling one's markers (one's personal effects) reflect (though not reflect, rather inflect or create) cultures. Cultures are ways of territorializing, the ways one makes oneself at home"(p229-300). Subsequently,  It is no wonder why the town of Athens transpires American culture. However, it also explains why people coming from a different background (culture) will feel excluded or why when a place experiences for a long time the immigration of a specific population, this place starts to show characters of the culture of the immigrating community.

Court Street, Athens Ohio
https://thenewpolitical.com/2019/04/26/staying-in-athens-for-the-summer-heres-a-list-of-updated-hours-for-the-local-hot-spots/

East Sate Athens Ohio,
http://www.eaststatestreetdevelopment.com/

Athens, Ohio campus has one of the best public transportation system in sub-region. However, the public transportation setting and operating system in Athens does not meet the need of international students. Like Women in the articles of Clare Foran (2013), International students rely a lot on public transportation for their everyday movements for school purposes as well as personal (grocery shopping, etc..) or social (going to parties) purposes. Clare Foran (2013) clearly demonstrated that cities that take into account Women facilitate their movements between places, which in this case implies improving public transportation in such a way that responds to their needs. The author also argues that these actions undoubtedly come from a political will to look at the way men and women use public transit in an aim to reduce gender inequalities in mobility. Such an initiative is also needed to reduce the mobility gap between international students and local students, since those two groups have access to different resources. In fact, most Local students have personal cars for their daily use or a stronger social network (family, friends) that can help them in their movements. International students, on the other hand, have access to a smaller social network and in most cases, do not own a car. Therefore, having public transportation systems with very limited operating hours (ends at 9:30 p.m. , does not work on Sundays)  and setting (works in specific areas) undermines the ability of international students to move within the space of Athens, which will undeniably affect their feelings of belonging. 

Athens Public Transportation
https://twitter.com/AthensTransitOH/status/902229746045607936



Wise, J. Macgregor. "Home: Territory and identity." Cultural studies 14.2 (2000): 295-310.

Foran, C. (2013). How to design a city for women. The Atlantic.