DESCRIPTION:
This seminar will
explore the method and content of urban narratives. Students will be introduced
to various urban theories, through the medium of narrative. Using a narrative
methodology (From God So Loves the City), students will explore urban
narratives from a particular context, applying theories to that context.
LEARNING
OUTCOMES:
• Students will be able to process
a complex urban story using Van Engen’s model in God So Loves the City.
• Students
will gain a basic understanding of several current urban theories.
COURSE
FORMAT:
This course will be
conducted as a seminar. Each student will prepare and present to other seminar
participants. Students will also actively interact with each other’s
presentations.
REQUIRED READING: (4 units) 1500
pages; (8) units 3000 pages (including at least three recent journal articles)
Lieblich, Anna, ed., Making
Meaning of Narrative. Sage 2000
Linthicum, Robert, Transforming Power.
2004
Parker, Simon, Urban Theory and the Urban
Experience. Routledge 2003
Tiersma and Van Engen, God So Loves the
City. MARC 1994
One Novel or Non-fiction Story that explores an urban theme.
RECOMMENDED
READING:
One urban theory book (or several articles) from your
context
e.g. Bishop, Ryan, ed. Postcolonial Urbanism: Southeast Asian Cities and Global
Processes. Routledge, 2003
Castells, Manuel, The City at the
Grassroots.
Dear, Michael, From Chicago to LA.
Sage 2001.
Flanagan, James, Contemporary Urban
Sociology, 1993
Kling, Joe, ed., Mobilizing the
Community: Local Politics in the Era of the Global City.
Sassen, Saskia, The Global City
Dissertations by Tiersma, Thomas, Thiessen Nation
Lieblich, Anna, The Narrative Study of
Lives. Sage 1993
Scott, Allen J., ed. Global City Regions:
Trends, Theory and Policy. Oxford 2002
Other books and journal articles from bibliography given in class.
ASSIGNMENTS:
• Reading and annotated
bibliography of each book/article read.
• Paper
following the methodology in God So Loves the City
8 units/9,000-10,000 words (36-40 pages)
PREREQUISITES:
Permission of Instructor to register
for course
RELATIONSHIP
TO CURRICULUM: Elective
FINAL
EXAM: None.
Last Date Edited: September 13,
2004