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| Semester | fall semester 2017 |
| Course frequency | Every fall sem. |
| Lecturers |
Marie-Laure Allain Bonilla (m.allainbonilla@unibas.ch)
Kenny R. Cupers (kenny.cupers@unibas.ch, Assessor) Manuel Herz (manuel.herz@unibas.ch) Virginia Nolan (virginia.nolan@unibas.ch) Sophie Oldfield (sophie.oldfield@unibas.ch) |
| Content | In our rapidly changing and contested global environment, cities are becoming increasingly important: they house a majority of the world’s inhabitants and act as catalysts of social, economic, cultural, and environmental change. Yet our global urban condition cannot be understood without accounting for the rural transformations, infrastructural networks, and resource economies on which cities and urban agglomerations depend, often across vast distances. This course forefronts critical questions central to urbanisms in the plural, processes that link together cities across the north and south in increasingly complex multi-scaled and territorial forms. Critical urbanisms start from the premise that the world’s most pressing urban and environmental challenges call not only for new ways of doing but for new ways of thinking. Imagining alternative futures means rethinking the present and the past. Instead of seeking to solve problems as they appear, it is their historical making, their political unfolding, and the ways in which they are represented that are interrogated. These new ways of thinking allow for analyses capable of capturing the complex dynamics of contemporary globalization and of opening paths for thinking beyond parochial definitions of space, place, and environment, as well as the limiting framework of identity politics and area studies. |
| Learning objectives | This seminar serves as an introduction to the theories and methods of what we call “critical urbanisms.” Discussing key texts from a wide variety of disciplines, including urban studies, ge-ography, history, anthropology, architecture, and the arts, this course provides foundational ways of understanding urban life and processes of urbanization. |
| Admission requirements | None |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|
No dates available. Please contact the lecturer.
| Modules |
Module: Critical Urbanisms: Introduction (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 |