Urban Studies

ANT 257 Urban Anthropology (4 Credits)

This course considers the city as both a setting for anthropological research and as an ethnographic object of study in itself. The class aims to think critically about the theoretical and methodological possibilities, challenges and limitations that are posed by urban anthropology. Students consider concepts and themes such as urbanization and migration; urban space and mobility; gender, race and ethnicity; technology and virtual space; markets and economies; citizenship and belonging; and production and consumption. Enrollment limited to 40. {S}

Fall, Spring, Alternate Years

ARH 212 Ancient Cities and Sanctuaries (4 Credits)

This course explores many different aspects of life in the cities and sanctuaries of the ancient Near East, Egypt, Greece, Etruria and Rome. Recurrent themes include urbanism, landscapes and patterns of worship, including initiation, sacrifice and pilgrimage. The class probes how modern notions of the secular and the sacred influence interpretation and how sometimes the seemingly most anomalous features of the worship of Isis or of the juxtaposition of commercial and domestic space within a city can potentially prove to be the most revealing about life in another place and time. Counts for ARU. {A}{H}

Fall, Spring, Variable

ARH 285pm Topics: Great Cities-Pompeii (4 Credits)

A consideration of the ancient city: architecture, painting, sculpture and objects of everyday life. Women and freed people as patrons of the arts are emphasized. The impact of the rediscovery of Pompeii and its role as a source of inspiration in 18th-, 19th-, and 20th-century art is discussed. No prerequisite. {A}{H}

Fall, Spring, Variable

EDC 200 Critical Perspectives in the City (4 Credits)

This course explores how the challenges facing schools in America’s cities are entwined with social, economic and political conditions present within the urban environment. The essential question: How have educators and policy makers attempted to provide a quality educational experience for youth when issues associated with their social environment often present significant obstacles to teaching and learning? Using relevant social theory to guide the analyses, students investigate school reform efforts at the macro-level by looking at policy-driven initiatives such as high stakes testing, vouchers and privatization, and at the local level by exploring the work of teachers, parents, youth workers and reformers. Fieldwork opportunities are available for students. Enrollment limited to 35.

Fall

EDC 396 Seminar: Researching Education (4 Credits)

Today education is a global phenomenon with widespread implications for individuals and communities. In this seminar, the class studies education as a social construct through interdisciplinary and qualitative research approaches. To do so, students engage with current theoretical and historical perspectives of research as well as practical methodological explorations. Across learning activities, students are asked to examine how research can reproduce or disrupt current structural inequalities and power imbalances in ways that advance social justice. By weaving opportunities to learn and deconstruct the theories shaping research methodologies, this course is designed to support students as they critically examine education across contexts, understand the complexity and plurality that currently characterizes research, and gain familiarity with its practice. Restrictions: Juniors and seniors only. Enrollment limited to 12. Instructor permission required.

Fall, Spring, Alternate Years

GOV 271 Colloquium: Global Cities (4 Credits)

This course studies different urban experiences across the world. The course introduces the process of urbanization and addresses the complex relationship between urbanization, globalization and inequality. Throughout the course, students explore a series of case studies to provide concrete examples of how different cities such as London, New York, Berlin, Shanghai, Stockholm and Istanbul responded to globalization by paying attention to different topics such as pandemics, migration and urban movements. In addition to the academic literature, students make use of newspapers and films to address the promises and political dilemmas of urban life. Designation: Comparative, International Relations. Enrollment limited to 24. (E) {S}

Fall, Spring, Alternate Years

HST 267 United States, 1877-1945: Race, Capitalism, Justice (4 Credits)

Survey of the major economic, political and social changes of this period, primarily through the lens of race, class and gender, to understand the role of ordinary people in shaping defining events, including industrial capitalism, colonialism, imperialism, mass immigration and migration, urbanization, the rise of mass culture, nationalism, war, feminism, labor radicalism, civil rights and other liberatory movements for social justice. Enrollment limited to 40. {H}

Fall, Spring, Variable