Research Essay Part B: Encounter Within the City Public space is one that provides the opportunity for encounters between an individual and those who are “strangers” to them, and through these interactions, it may be possible for the barriers that exist between them to be broken down, be it partially or completely. These interactions take place within the zone of encounter, where the affective energies produced by both humans and non-humans can work to break down barriers (Lobo, 2014). With a focus on the University of Melbourne campus in Parkville, I will explore encounters within the university student community, looking at barriers experienced in relation to ethnicity. Within the contact zone of a university tutorial class specifically, I felt an immediate bodily reaction to the majority of my classmates, registering the differences between us, myself being one of very few Asian students in the class, the majority being Caucasian. Through continued enforced encounters, I believe that these barriers where somewhat broken down. This class that took place during the second semester of 2015 was not the first instance of sharing a class or space with Caucasian individuals, however, due to the size of the class, it was the first time with forced one-on-one interaction. Despite knowing that these interactions were to be beneficial in terms of the class, my body still reacted viscerally, resulting in a discomfort in the interactions. Through weekly classes and as such, encounters, my body began to become accustomed to the enforced interaction, and through the consistent encounters, barriers began to be …show more content…
These barriers may have come about through processes of distribution and segregation, informing my experiences with this social group. While they may not be noticed, they are able to be