Detouring the Global City

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

This course will provide an interdisciplinary introduction to research on global urbanisms, drawing on literature and case studies from architecture, geography, anthropology, and cultural studies. We will consider the strategic roles cities have played within the wide-ranging changes associated with globalization and neoliberalism through the figure of the global city, and spend most of the semester tracking some of the major characteristics of contemporary urban infrastructures, spatial politics, and geographical forms using materials spanning traditional scholarship to films and art/architecture. We will engage with the critiques and concerns of scholars from within the growing literature of/about the Global South and critical geopolitics, in order to examine the power relations and implications of different urban theories and methodologies. Globalizing urban theory requires that we map and are mindful of diverse theoretical perspectives, modes of representation, and social justice issues that underlie global urban issues and research. Class readings and materials cross-cut contemporary urban themes and theoretical perspectives with “site visits” that span what are typically understood to be “global cities”—Shanghai, Berlin, São Paulo, Dubai, Johannesburg, and Mumbai—as well as cities and places often considered to be ordinary or peripheral to globalization, from Accra, Ghana to Flint, Michigan, or from the logistics city to refugee camp. Special emphasis will be placed on how urban spaces are constructed and represented through methods of research and visual documentation. Class work includes weekly concept maps and “snapshots,” one in-class group presentation, and a sequence of multimedia assignments: (1) postcard/flashcard assignment, (2) sister city assignment, and (3) a “detouring globalization” guidebook/portfolio. This sequence asks students to apply/reflect on global urban methodologies—including urban criteria/concepts, comparisons, pedagogy and creative documentation—by engaging with conventional tourist formats in critical ways. The final project—the guidebook entry—may take the form of a visual essay or podcast to be included in a collective class “detouring the global city” guidebook.