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| Semester | fall semester 2021 |
| Course frequency | Every fall sem. |
| Lecturers | Jana Häberlein (jana.haeberlein@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | This course explores methods of urban research through the lens of the archive. As a site of selective public and/or private memory, a physical collection of records shaped by various power dynamics, and a metaphor for holding knowledge, the archive is central to the mediated production of urban space. Whereas governmental archives hold a particular power over the narration of history, social movements and civil society organizations have created a range of alternative collections, including oral history and sound archives. Historians tend to approach these existing archives as repositories of ‘primary sources,’ yet the materiality and media of the city itself can also be used as evidence in urban research. At the same time, the rise of the internet has exploded the notion of what constitutes an archive. Our digitally mediated lives now constitute an archive with radically new powers that reshape our physical world. This course will train students in archival methods for urban research, while reflecting on the epistemological questions that come with the explosion of the archive into urban reality. The course begins with the premise that archives are not a collection of neutral records of events, but shaped by difference and otherness with regard to gender, class, ethnicity, sexuality, and ability. The course encourages students to conceptualize urban research as the production of new archives, produced in collaboration with a range of interlocutors. Furthermore, the course explores how contemporary urban conditions, shaped by the so-called digital revolution, invite alternate ways of research and how they underpin our central focus on evaluating knowledge production about the urban. The cross-examine of innovative case studies will help students to expand their imagination of urban archives. Students will learn to combine creative and critical approaches to urban media and knowledge production. In addition to interrogating conventional methods of urban scholarship, they will gain practical skills and techniques to prepare them for individual research projects in urban studies. |
| Learning objectives | • to conduct archival research for urban studies. • to develop strategies for creating and assembling records as part of an urban research project. • to conceptually understand the relationship between the archive and the city. • to analyze how urban knowledge is produced through recording, collecting, and curating, and its implications for shaping social, cultural, and political hierarchies. |
| Bibliography | |
| Comments | ***Important note*** Due to change of lecturer the content of this course is subject to slight changes. Dr. Jana Häberlein will be teaching this course in the Fall Semester 2021 and is replacing Dr Aylin Tschoepe. |
| Admission requirements | The course is open to Master students in different programs. Advanced BAs should reach out to the instructor: there is a possibility to join following a conversation about their particular interest in the subject matter and relevance of the course for their future study and professional interests. |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| wöchentlich | Tuesday | 09.00-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 120 |
| Date | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Tuesday 28.09.2021 | 09.00-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 120 |
| Tuesday 05.10.2021 | 09.00-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 120 |
| Tuesday 12.10.2021 | 09.00-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 120 |
| Tuesday 19.10.2021 | 09.00-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 120 |
| Tuesday 26.10.2021 | 09.00-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 120 |
| Tuesday 02.11.2021 | 09.00-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 120 |
| Tuesday 09.11.2021 | 09.00-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 120 |
| Tuesday 16.11.2021 | 09.00-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 120 |
| Tuesday 23.11.2021 | 09.00-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 120 |
| Tuesday 30.11.2021 | 09.00-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 120 |
| Tuesday 07.12.2021 | 09.00-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 120 |
| Tuesday 14.12.2021 | 09.00-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 120 |
| Tuesday 21.12.2021 | 09.00-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 120 |
| Modules |
Modul: Research Lab Kulturanthropologie (Master's degree subject: Cultural Anthropology) Modul: Vertiefung Themenfelder der Geschlechterforschung (Master's degree subject: Gender Studies) Module: Projects and Processes of Urbanization (Master's degree program: Critical Urbanisms (Start of studies before 01.08.2020)) Module: Ways of Knowing the City (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 | as often as necessary |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Fachbereich Urban Studies |