SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION
CMNS 486-4

(Special Topics) Communication and the City

Prerequisites:

75 credit hours, and permission of the instructor.

Overview:

Not simply a site of media concentration, the city functions as both a medium for the diffusion of ideas and information about modern life (its conditions, meanings, and values) as well as the medium through which modern (and postmodern) life is actually lived and practiced.

In this course, we will look at the city as a historically-specific phenomenon. We consider the historical and contemporary practices of transportation, communication, and urban planning which shape our ideas and our experience of urban space in the twentieth century. We will examine how transportation systems have been designed to exclude as well as to link communities, and investigate the biases inherent in the diffusion patterns of communication technologies. Finally, we will look at the city itself as a mode of communication which expresses our social and cultural assumptions, values, and aspirations.

The course readings are selected to expose students a variety of historical and theoretical perspectives on the city. Through the readings and in-class projects, students will be introduced to interpretative debates about the city and experiment with different ways of thinking about the spaces in which we live and work.

Readings:

A package of course readings will be available at the first class.

Evaluation:

In-class projects and participation 30%
Research presentation 30%
Research paper 40%

The School expects that the grades awarded in this course will bear some reasonable relation to established university-wide practices to both levels and distribution of grades. In addition, the School will also follow Policy T10.02 with respect to "Intellectual Honesty" and "Academic Discipline" (see the current calendar, General Regulations Section.)