Washington DC, Global City

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

We live in a moment of unprecedented global urbanization, where more than half of humanity resides in urban areas. In just a few short decades, this percentage will rise to 75% with cities around the world having absorbed an additional 2-3 billion people. And yet, during this globalized mega-trend, every city is host to unique communities, who reside in unique physical places and fosters unique spatially distributed cultures and economies. This course explores facets of global urbanization in Washington, DC as embodied and expressed by local people, local places and local networks. The expression of Washington, DC as a global city both supports and transcends its legacy and identity as national capital of the United States. This course will intentionally not focus on Washington’s role as national capital. This course requires off-campus travel in order to visit sites and conduct field work; students will be exposed to a variety of methods of urban analysis.