Undergraduate Course: Encountering Cities (GEGR10102)
Course Outline
| School | School of Geosciences |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course explores the everyday geographies of cities through the concept of encounter. Questioning how we understand cities, the course introduces diverse theoretical approaches to the city and examines different modes of researching and representing cities.
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| Course description |
Using Urban examples as diverse as Bradford and Baghdad, the course is organised around lectures and discussions that address 3 key conceptual concerns: understanding the everyday sociality of cities (the spaces of encounter and mundane interaction that make up so much of urban life); grasping the emotional and affective life of cities (the embodied experiences of inhabiting and using urban spaces); and appreciating urban materialities (the often overlooked things, technologies, natures, and infrastructure that are a part of everyday life in cities). These conceptual concerns then form the basis for examining a series of important issues facing contemporary cities that include: how we live with difference in cities; how water infrastructures produce inequality; how walls freeze conflict into urban landscapes; how we deal with ghosts and social injustice through urban memory-work; and how urban ruins offer particular insights into the post-industrial city.
Course syllabus
Week 1: The everyday city
Week 2: Urban Materialities
Week 3: Urban Affects
Week 4: Fieldwork and zine workshop
Week 5: Zine Workshop
Week 6: Urban Multiculture: Bradford
Week 7: Hydraulic Cities: Mumbai
Week 8: City of Walls: Sao Paulo and Baghdad
Week 9: Haunted Cities: Berlin
Week 10: Urban Ruins: Detroit
Week 11 Essay Workshop
The course is open to 3rd and 4th undergraduate students as well as PGT GeoSciences students. Priority will be given to undergraduate students on the Geography Degree Programmes and Sustainable Development (Geography Pathway). Please contact geoset.ug.drummond@ed.ac.uk to check availability.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | The course is open to 3rd and 4th undergraduate students as well as PGT GeoSciences students. Priority will be given to undergraduate students on the Geography Degree Programmes and Sustainable Development (Geography Pathway). Please contact geoset.ug.drummond@ed.ac.uk to check availability. |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- evaluate how different theoretical frameworks, research methods, and modes of representation shape how we know and understand cities
- demonstrate a critical understanding of key concepts including the everyday, encounters, emotions, and materiality
- employ a range of writing and analytical skills to identify and analyse complex issues facing contemporary cities with originality
- develop skills in working independently and collaboratively
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Reading List
Amin, A. and Thrift, N. (2002). Cities: Re-imagining the Urban. Cambridge: Polity Press.
de Certeau, M. (1984). ¿Walking in the City¿ in The Practice of Everyday Life. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp.91-110.
Hubbard, P. (2006) City. London: Routledge.
Latham, A., McCormack, D., McNamara, K., and McNeill, D. (2009). Key Concepts in Urban Geography. London: Sage.
Lefebvre, H. (1996). Writings on Cities. (Oxford: Blackwell).
Pile, S. (2005). Real Cities. London: Sage. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | GEGR10102 |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Daniel Swanton
Tel: (0131 6)50 8164
Email: dan.swanton@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Leigh Corstorphine
Tel: (01316) 502572
Email: lcorstor@ed.ac.uk |
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