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| Semester | fall semester 2020 |
| Course frequency | Once only |
| Lecturers | Kenny R. Cupers (kenny.cupers@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | This seminar explores current theories in and for urban studies. Through intensive reading, students in the course will explore how urban theory, postcolonial studies, feminist theory, science and technology studies, theories of capitalism, the environmental humanities, and critical race studies have been brought to bear on urban research. Our central goal is to problematize the relationship between the intellectual project of various strands of self-identified theory and its purpose or intended domain of “application” in urban studies. Rather than conceiving of theory as somehow hovering above reality or disciplinary purviews and therefore universally applicable to urban analysis, this course situates theoretical production in the specific intellectual, material, and geographical contexts from which it emerges. Central to this course is the ability to situate theory’s claims to validity in the urban. We will start from current urban debates that position “theory from the South” against renewed efforts to theorize global change and planetary transformation. Of particular interest here is an understanding how specific histories of global conflict as well as current anti-colonial, feminist, queer, environmentalist, and indigenous struggles spur theories of urbanity and urban transformation. Our focus will also be on the relationship between technology and subjectivity in the conceptualization of cities, and how race and gender can be analyzed as both constitutive of and constructed by the urban. We will also examine recent conceptualizations of nature and capitalism can inform new approaches to our understanding of cities, territories, and landscapes. In addition to discussions of texts and media, the course will feature targeted assignments for students to mobilize theoretical arguments in their ongoing urban research. |
| Learning objectives | - An understanding of current theoretical debates in and for urban studies - An ability to contextualize theoretical arguments and situate their claims to validity in the urban - An ability comment upon, revise, and re-purpose theory for the argument of an urban research project |
| Comments | ONLINE PRESENCE - ***Important note*** - a blended model of in presence and online teaching is aimed for - however, please do follow the instructions of the lecturer each week. Please do not show up at the room without double checking the course model of each week and keep up to date 24 hrs prior to the next course. |
| Admission requirements | Recommended for second year MA in Critical Urbanisms and Ph.D. in Urban Studies students |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
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No dates available. Please contact the lecturer.
| Modules |
Modul: Fields: Knowledge Production and Transfer (Master's degree program: African Studies) Modul: Interdisciplinary and Applied African Studies (Master's degree program: African Studies) Module: Projects and Processes of Urbanization (Master's degree program: Critical Urbanisms (Start of studies before 01.08.2020)) Module: The Urban across Disciplines (Master's degree program: Critical Urbanisms) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | no repetition |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Fachbereich Urban Studies |