Rate My Professor C.L. Bohannon

C.L. Bohannon, PhD, FASLA, is an Associate Professor in the Landscape Architecture Department and Senior Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs and Community Engagement at the University of Virginia School of Architecture, where he joined in 2022. He holds a PhD in Architecture and Design Research, a Master of Landscape Architecture from Virginia Tech, and a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. Prior to his current roles, Bohannon was an Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture and Interim Director of the School of Architecture + Design at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. There, he founded and directed the Community Engagement Lab, focusing on longstanding place-based community work, and served as Faculty Principal for the Leadership and Social Change Residential College since 2018. With 18 years of teaching experience, Bohannon has significantly contributed to design education through innovative community-engaged approaches.

Bohannon's research specializations include community-engaged design and pedagogy, social and environmental justice, and African American landscapes, particularly those in the American South. He explores 'uneven geographies' stemming from asymmetrical power relationships that generate social and environmental inequities, including health disparities, gentrification, forced migration, and displacement in marginalized communities. Employing his 'R3' framework—'Real People, Real Problems, Real Projects'—Bohannon incorporates community mapping and storytelling to cultivate leadership skills for service and citizenship. He advocates for leaderful community engagement as a democratic, inclusive practice driven by collective change. His place-based initiatives in Southwest Virginia Appalachia address food insecurity, community histories and narratives, and urban vacancy. Bohannon was elevated to Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects (FASLA) in 2023 and served as President of the Virginia Chapter of ASLA in 2019. As a Faculty Fellow with UVA's Center for Teaching Excellence, he supports community engagement and service learning through workshops, a monthly learning community, and instructor consultations, furthering the theorization and application of community engagement in design education.