City Life and Urban Worlds: An Introduction to the Urban Humanities

3 units

The urban humanities is an inter-/anti-disciplinary project that brings together theory, practice, and methods from fields in architecture, urban design, and the humanities to interrogate the urban condition. In this core course, we will delve into key theorists, texts, and methods that inform the urban humanities through seminars, site visits, and design projects. We will debate emerging perspectives in critical urban theory and then explore the applicability of these positions in St. Louis through mapping, street ethnography, and subtraction. In addition, this seminar is designed to introduce urban scholars from across the humanities and design fields to each other. Participants will be encouraged to experiment, trade, and engage in dialogue across their fields. What, we will ask, is the status of the urban commons in an era of enclosures and privatization? What can postapocalyptic cyberpunk from Lagos teach us about smart cities? How do built environments get their politics? Can these politics be redirected or subverted?