Robert Gibbons - Culture, Economy, and the American City
After graduation, Robert accepted a full-time position with Outward Bound USA, where he collaborated with ten of the most experienced Outward Bound educators to form a National Learning Lab tasked with re-evaluating Outward Bound’s curriculum with the aim of adapting it to suit K-5th graders in a traditional educational setting.Robert led a trial run of such a program this summer at an elementary school in Omaha with great success and will be rollingout five programs to the Omaha Public School system in 2017-2018. Robert is eager to pursue a Masters in Public Policy.
Area of Concentration Courses
Anthropology 157: Anthropology of Law
City and Regional Planning 110: Introduction to City Planning
Geography 182: Field Study of Buildings and Cities
History 127AC: California
Political Economy 101: Contemporary Theories of Political Economy
Thesis
Robert Gibbons : - The Presidio from Post to Park: Two Hundred Years of Transition (Class of 2017)
The Presidio of San Francisco was Americas the longest continuously operated military post until 1995, when the National Park and the Presidio Trust assumed control over this 1,500 acre site located at the entrance to the San Francisco Bay. As a part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, the Presidio is a national park unlike any other. It hosts more visitors than Yellowstone and Yosemite combined, and more is expensive to maintain. Robert Gibbonss senior thesis examines the unique fiscal challenges The Presidio faces, the allegedly altruistic aims of its governing bodies, and the federal agencies and political forces that protect and enhance its natural lands, while enforcing the dual mandates of revenue generation and free social services. Public documents detailing development plans, expert testimony, and community input provide a well-rounded perspective to the most urgent challenge the Presidio presently faces–recognizing cultural and physical barriers that exclude already marginalized Bay Area communities from enjoying this new type of national park.
