Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

An introduction to geographical perspectives on urbanized and urbanizing places, spaces, landscapes, and environments. The course focuses on the dynamism that characterizes cities and urban regions. Using a geographical social science approach, it provides an overview of how cities are shaped by humans and how we are shaped by cities.

COURSE DETAILS:

Cities—their bright lights, spectacular buildings, jarring contrasts, and changing landscapes—have sparked our imaginations for centuries.  They are places of possibility and danger, of hope and disappointment, of power and powerlessness, of glamour and destitution, of production and consumption.  They are often seen as different or special.  They are frequently places where new innovations emerge and places that epitomize new forms of social organization.  If you are interested in cities, if you are excited about living in one and by the opportunity to learn more about them, if you are interested in urban change, then this course is for you.

The course is an introduction to geographical perspectives on urbanized and urbanizing places, spaces, landscapes, and environments. The course focuses on the dynamism that characterizes cities and urban regions. Using a geographical social science approach, it provides an overview of how cities are shaped by humans and how we are shaped by cities.

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

The following educational goals will guide the class. When you complete the course, you will have a basic understanding of:

(1) what urban change is and what it might be in the future;

(2) the relationship between society, space, and urbanization;

(3) how we can understand urban change using concepts from critical geographical scholarship;

(4) how governance, planning, activism, and other practices shape and mitigate urban change.

Grading

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

REQUIRED READING NOTES: