Fall 2020 - URB 695 G200
Selected Topics in Urban Studies (4)
Class Number: 8132
Delivery Method: In Person
Overview
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Course Times + Location:
Sep 9 – Dec 8, 2020: Wed, 5:30–9:20 p.m.
Burnaby
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Instructor:
Tiffany Muller Myrdahl
tmullerm@sfu.ca
1 778 782-4684
Description
CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:
This course provides an opportunity for students to study one or more urban studies topics that lie beyond the scope of the other courses. This course will normally provide a more research-intensive experience than other graduate urban studies courses.
COURSE DETAILS:
Women in Cities: A Critical Intersectional Practice
Cities are dynamic entities; myriad social forces and processes inform their design and development. Gender and sexual politics are among the most significant - and least discussed - of these forces. Gender and sexual politics underlie urban form and function, from the built environment, to laws and policies, to cultural and memorial landscapes. Yet, cities are often imagined to serve a universal user.
Taking a critical and intersectional approach to the relationship between cities and the intimate lives of their residents, this course examines the interplay between bodies and cities. We will use texts, multimedia, and other tools (including safety audits and collaborative mapping) to ask how embodied experiences of gender and sexual identity and difference shape our perceptions of cities. We will explore, among other topics, the explicit and implicit ways that forms of gender and sexuality (as well as sex acts and gender expression) are promoted or policed, how cities take sexual and gender politics seriously already, and how cities can improve their policies and services.
Course timing and format
We will meet online from 5:30-8:00 PM on Wednesdays for our synchronous sessions. We will use primarily Canvas (Blackboard Collaborate) and Zoom as a back-up.
Asynchronous work will be expected using the discussion space on Canvas, hypothes.is, and other open source online platforms.
Grading
- Participation 20%
- Journal/reading responses 30%
- Review project 35%
- Peer review 15%
NOTES:
This course is cross-listed as GSWS 411-4 (E100)
Office hours: TBA
Materials
REQUIRED READING:
REQUIRED READING:
Leslie Kern, 2019, Feminist City: A Field Guide. BTL Press.
(Available as an e-pub via https://btlbooks.com/book/feminist-city)
And
Whitzman, et al (eds.), 2012, Building Inclusive Cities: Women’s safety and the right to the city. Routledge. (Available as an e-book via SFU Library)
Academic journal articles and other sources will be used throughout the course. Other sources include, but are not limited to: video, oral histories, podcasts, and grey literature (policy documents, municipal reports, NGO-produced materials).
Graduate Studies Notes:
Important dates and deadlines for graduate students are found here: http://www.sfu.ca/dean-gradstudies/current/important_dates/guidelines.html. The deadline to drop a course with a 100% refund is the end of week 2. The deadline to drop with no notation on your transcript is the end of week 3.
Registrar Notes:
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS
SFU’s Academic Integrity web site http://www.sfu.ca/students/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating. Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.
Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the University community. Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the University. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the University. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html
TEACHING AT SFU IN FALL 2020
Teaching at SFU in fall 2020 will be conducted primarily through remote methods. There will be in-person course components in a few exceptional cases where this is fundamental to the educational goals of the course. Such course components will be clearly identified at registration, as will course components that will be “live” (synchronous) vs. at your own pace (asynchronous). Enrollment acknowledges that remote study may entail different modes of learning, interaction with your instructor, and ways of getting feedback on your work than may be the case for in-person classes. To ensure you can access all course materials, we recommend you have access to a computer with a microphone and camera, and the internet. In some cases your instructor may use Zoom or other means requiring a camera and microphone to invigilate exams. If proctoring software will be used, this will be confirmed in the first week of class.
Students with hidden or visible disabilities who believe they may need class or exam accommodations, including in the current context of remote learning, are encouraged to register with the SFU Centre for Accessible Learning (caladmin@sfu.ca or 778-782-3112).