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58675-01 - Studio: Interdisciplinary Urban Research (10 CP)
| Semester | fall semester 2025 |
| Course frequency | Every fall sem. |
| Lecturers |
Francesca Romana Dell'Aglio (francescaromana.dellaglio@unibas.ch)
Ernest Sewordor (ernest.sewordor@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | This research studio equips Critical Urbanisms MA students who are preparing for their thesis work with advanced research skills. Participants will be guided to amalgamate research skills developed in previous Critical Urbanisms modules (i.e., Ways of Knowing the City; Urbanism from the South; Urbanism across Geographies; /or Anthropological Fieldwork modules). Participants will be challenged to expand their analytical and methodological rigor from multidisciplinary perspectives through interactive exercises that deepen students’ knowledge and understanding of key debates in urban studies, the research design process, methodological skill sets, and ethical and epistemological questions around knowledge production. The studio is iteratively built, in three main stages: (1) Critical Urban Research: In this part, the course instructors will guide students to define their research interests and ambitions. At the end of this block, students will produce a poster/atlas (i.e., a composite of visuals, text, and notes) consisting of a title, abstract and bibliography, which will be shared in the Research Design Workshop. (2) Research Design Workshop: In this two-day workshop, students will present their work to their colleagues, the course instructors, and Urban Studies faculty, using their poster/atlas as a pedagogical tool and reference. Your presentation should introduce your research topic/ area of interest, articulate the methodologies you’ve considered for your work, and explain your research aims. Besides the feedback you will receive, the workshop is intended to pair you with a supervisor whose expertise is suitable for executing your thesis. (3) Combined Methods: This block will introduce students to a variety of research methods which they are invited to explore, consider, and test through hands-on exercises. The combination of seminars and workshops in this block is tailored to jointly introduce students to different methods and in-depth exploration of particular research techniques–ranging from ethnography, auto-ethnography, archival investigation, filmmaking, photography, to drawing. Students do not have to master all the methods. Rather, they are invited to choose a mix of 2 methods that are relevant to research interests. Later, we will return to your draft research abstract and add a paragraph describing your methods. Throughout the course, students will be guided to develop a seminar paper (or research proposal) for their thesis and foreground interdisciplinary urban research methodology. By the end of the course, students will be assigned a supervisor and reader for their thesis to guide their thesis research and writing process. |
| Learning objectives | ● To develop an independent, interdisciplinary research project that generates original argumentation and new ideas that contribute to debates in urban studies; ● To integrate methods, approaches, and theoretical frameworks from different epistemic and disciplinary traditions to generate original ideas; ● To hone the skills and vocabulary to critically reflect on one’s positionality within a given research project; ● To work across research mediums and connect the use of images, spatial practices, material analyses, and discursive evidence to produce narrative and visual projects. |
| Comments | Only open for Critical Urbanisms students who have fulfilled the Critical Urbanisms Intro module, the Ways of Knowing and the Urbanism across geographies/Urbanism from the South/Anthropology modules. |
| Admission requirements | Anmelden: Belegen ; Abmelden: nicht erforderlich |
| Course application | Anmelden: Belegen ; Abmelden: nicht erforderlich |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| wöchentlich | Wednesday | 10.00-17.00 | Petersplatz 14/ Hebelstrasse 3, Phantomsaal E013 |
Dates
| Modules |
Module: Interdisciplinary Urban Research (Master's degree program: Critical Urbanisms) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment details | Pass/ Fail |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | as often as necessary |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Fachbereich Urban Studies |