Tamara Z. Jamil

I am interested in dissecting the nation’s dependence on a criminal population in order to manage communities that have been dispossessed as a byproduct of racial capitalism. My research focuses on rural counties' financial reliance on jail construction, hence its dependence on crime futurity, and how the expanding rural carceral sphere is connected to the 'humanizing’ design trend of the urban carceral sphere.

Before starting my Ph.D. at UC Berkeley, I worked as a Researcher/Designer at MASS Design Group’s Restorative Justice Design Lab, where I researched Restorative Justice practices while developing toolkit frameworks for counties looking to close detention facilities and invest in community-led social infrastructure. As an Assistant Researcher with Forensic Architecture, I worked on the ‘Huellas de Desaparición’ investigation. This project zoomed into the forced disappearance of 22 persons after the siege of the Palace of Justice in Bogotá, Colombia in 1985; the work required data-mining hundreds of poorly-archived testimonies, and over 50 hours of cumulative video coverage.

My Peruvian and Lebanese backgrounds, both competing for the award of best cuisine, have given me a unique sensitivity when working with diverse groups of people. My undergraduate and professional background in architecture ground my interest in design to an acknowledgment that design has the capacity to hurt, and to criminalize targeted communities. I am happy to talk to those interested in engaging in critical research, especially anyone coming from a design background.