everything.study
11.027

City to City: Comparing, Researching, and Reflecting on Practice

3-0-9 units. HASS-S · Undergraduate

Introduces students to practice through researching, writing, and working for and with nonprofits. Students work directly with nonprofits and community partners to help find solutions to real world problems; interview planners and other field experts, and write and present findings to nonprofit partners and community audiences.

Spring 2017 · Global Cityscope - Disaster Planning and Post-Disaster Rebuilding and Recovery

This class is designed to expose you to the cycles of disasters, the roots of emergency planning in the U.S., how to understand and map vulnerabilities, and expose you to the disaster planning in different contexts, including in developing countries.

Readings

Spring 2011 · City to City: Comparing, Researching and Writing about Cities: New Orleans

Topics

  • Introduction to New Orleans history: Colonization-present day
  • Tools: Learn to use GIS
  • Presentation of Corners and Squares Project
  • Introduction to New Orleans projects
  • Guest speaker: Jeff Herbert, Wetmore Visiting Practitioner, Department of Urban & Regional Planning, University of Illinois
  • Tools: Learn to use Rhino
  • Guest speaker: Lakshmi Sridaran, Public Policy Coordinator, Neighborhood Partnerships Network, New Orleans
  • Guest speaker: Schools as hubs for regenerating community development
  • Tools: Learn to use Adobe programs (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign)
  • Tools: Learn to use GPS tracking with assistance from librarian
  • Arrive in New Orleans: Explore French Quarter
  • All day tour of New Orleans with Richard Campanella, Assistant Research Professor, Tulane University
  • Breakfast with the client and start projects
  • Field work on projects
  • Field work on projects (cont.)
  • Recap of New Orleans trip and discussion of final projects
  • Workshop: How to create successful maps and visuals
  • Workshop: How to write final reports and official memos
  • Guest speaker from If This House Could Talk-Community action
  • Workshop: How to be a successful public speaker
  • Outline work plan for the rest of the semester
  • Work Day
  • Peer editing of reports
  • Work day
  • Peer editing of posters
  • Presentation of final report and poster
  • Presentation of final work to clients in New Orleans (in New Orleans)

Readings

Spring 2006 · City to City: Comparing, Researching and Writing about Cities

Topics

  • Introduction to City to City
  • What about Copenhagen?
  • What about Boston?
  • Workshop/Discussion - Interviews
  • Guest Presentation by Prof. Ole Madsen, MIT Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
  • Guest Presentation by Thomas Oles - “A Tourist in Denmark”
  • Trip De-briefing
  • Research Paper Editing Workshop
  • Field Trip 1 - Green Line Extension into Somerville, MA and Medford, MA
  • Field Trip 2 - Visiting Boston’s Suburbs (Concord, MA)
  • Field Trip 3 - Boston Waterfront Tour
  • Final Presentations: DUSP Forum
  • Wrap Up

Readings

  • Goldberger, Paul. “The Sculptor: Santiago Calatrava redefines the apartment tower.” The New Yorker, The Critics, The Sky Line , October 31, 2005. ↗
    Listed reading
  • Updike, John. “Incommensurability: A new biography of Kierkegaard.” The New Yorker, The Critics, Books , March 28, 2005. ↗
    Listed reading
  • Hamilton, William. “A Global Look at Urban Planning.” New York Times , January 12, 2006.
    Listed reading
  • “A Modest Undertaking.” The Economist 370, no. 8365 (March 4, 2004): 68.
    Listed reading
  • “A not-so-popular Nordic bridge.” The Economist , October 5, 2000.
    Listed reading
  • “Love bridge to Sweden.” The Economist , July 8, 2004.
    Listed reading
  • “Full Fogh forward.” The Economist , February 3, 2005.
    Listed reading
  • “The welcome-mat has gone.” The Economist , July 4, 2002.
    Listed reading
  • “Prophetic insults.” The Economist , January 5, 2006.
    Listed reading
  • “What Next?” The Economist , October 5, 2000.
    Listed reading
  • “Viking Binge.” The Economist , November 13, 2003.
    Listed reading
  • “Racial tensions in Denmark: Danes on the rampage.” The Economist , November 11, 1999.
    Listed reading
  • “Unholy row.” The Economist , June 26, 2003.
    Listed reading
  • “Have car-boot, will travel.” The Economist , August 29, 2002.
    Listed reading
  • “Happy Family?” The Economist , January 21, 1999.
    Listed reading
  • “Sharp tongues.” The Economist , June 12, 2003.
    Listed reading
  • “Testing Danish Tolerance.” The Economist , August 26, 1999.
    Listed reading
  • Fouché, Gwladys. “Danish paper sparks angry protests.” The Guardian , January 30, 2006.
    Listed reading
  • Watt, Nicholas. “Bomb threat to repentant Danish paper.” The Guardian , February 1, 2006.
    Listed reading
  • “Yemenis Scholars Condemns Denmark Abuses against Prophet.” Yemen Observer IX, no. 03 (January 30, 2006).
    Listed reading
  • Harding, Luke, and Kim Willsher. “ Anger as papers reprint cartoons of Muhammad ,” The Guardian , February 2, 2006. ↗
    Listed reading
  • Makovsky, Paul. “ Pedestrian Cities (DOC).” Metropolis, August/September 2002. ↗
    Listed reading
  • The Boston 2003 Trend Report: Snapshot of Boston’s Children and Youth ( PDF - 2.5 MB ) ↗
    Listed reading
  • Boston 2002-2006 Open Space Plan ↗
    Listed reading
  • “Boston’s New Bridge.” The Economist , March 29, 2003.
    Listed reading
  • Booth, Wayne C., Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph M. Williams. The Craft of Research . 2nd ed. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 2003. ISBN: 0226065685. This book is clear, to the point and one of the best books out there for guiding the development of research papers, theses, and dissertations. Many students and professionals have found it indispensable. This book is required in 11.Tht in the Fall.
    Recommended
  • Hansen, Kristine. A Rhetoric for the Social Sciences: A Guide to Academic and Professional Communication . Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc, 1998. ISBN: 0134402723. What I like about this book is its focus on explaining to students the different methodologies that can be used to research a topic.
    Recommended
  • Behling, John H. Guidelines for Preparing the Research Proposal . Revised ed. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1984. ISBN: 0819137340. What I like about this book is that it clearly outlines the steps, pieces and parts to creating a research proposal.
    Recommended

Prerequisites & course information

Prereq: None Acad Year 2027-2028: Not offered Acad Year 2028-2029: U (Spring) 3-0-9 units. HASS-S

Sources