Reading the City

Learning Outcomes

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Critically assess the differences between different modes of representation (e.g. textual, visual and oral)
• Synthesise and reflectively examine textual and visual materials relating to the subject
• Identify theoretical approaches to the study of metropolitan cultures

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• How key notions such as ‘nation’, ‘class’, ‘race’, ‘gender’ ‘culture’, or ‘history’ are formed, represented and reproduced in a metropolitan context.
• Cities as micro-sites of historical, social political and linguistic developments and conflicts that have national and/or transnational significance.
• Key concepts in cultural theory approaches to the city.
• How cosmopolitanism and diversity are expressed in urban environments.
• Historical and national narratives as told by monumental and representational cultures of cities.
• Urban practices/sites that mediate transnational and global links.

Subject Specific Practical Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Apply subject-specific theoretical approaches to comparable contexts
• Develop initiative in seeking subject-specific materials and extract information from them

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Competency in fieldwork
• Improve/consolidate critical reading skills
• Improve/consolidate essay writing skills
• Contribute confidently and appropriately to discussions in seminars
• Consolidate library research
• Work effectively as part of a task-orientated group

The module will introduce you to studying questions of history, society and culture through the prism of the city locally in order to be able to analyse cities at global level. The module will use the example of Southampton for the purposes of the research task and you will be able to apply the relevant theories and approaches to global cities such as Madrid, Paris and Berlin in the essay. The module explores cities as sites of national identity and conflict and of wider transnational and global links. Whilst the weekly lectures focus in the main on Southampton and UK cities, references will be made to cities such as Rio de Janeiro, Paris, Berlin and Mexico City and you will have the opportunity to explore those urban centres in more depth through the essayThe module will make reference to cities such as Rio de Janeiro, Paris, Berlin, Mexico City, London in order to examine metropolitan cultures in different historical periods. In doing so we will foreground specific linguistic practices, cultural products and sites through which cities are represented and through which issues of urban identity and politics are expressed (e.g. film, photography, monuments, architecture). In addition we will look at metropolitan cultures as subjects of cultural theory and read some key theoretical texts on issues such as the modern city, cities as sites of linguistic diversity, cosmopolitanism, urban cultures, the global city, space, segregation and inequality.

Teaching and learning methods

Teaching methods include

• lectures and seminars
• group discussion
• collaborative presentations and tasks

Learning activities include

• Independent study/research
• Preparing and delivering a group project
• Written work

Innovative or special features of this module

 Collaborative learning teams

Teaching and study will be organized around a selection of materials which address historical, social and cultural questions that pertain to the city. In addition, each case study will familiarize you with a particular theoretical and methodological angle on studying the city. These issues will be outlined by the lecturer and explored in seminar discussions. You will each be required to perform small non-assessed reading and empirical tasks in preparation of the seminars. The aim is to enable you to practise your textual comprehension skills and methodological awareness to facilitate critical questioning. You are expected to form learning teams of between 4 to 6 students and to conduct fieldwork as a collaborative group project. You will agree on a specific theme, on how you are going to research it and subdivide tasks. Each member will be responsible for researching one aspect and all work together to incorporate individual contributions into a final report. This should take the form of a piece of non-academic writing (e.g. a newspaper article or summary of project findings to be publicized in a variety of media). Thereby, we wish to provide you with training to develop writing skills in a variety of genres which shall enhance your employability and ability to communicate with wider, non-academic audiences.You will be encouraged to use a range of sources, including visual ones. The group project will be presented orally in class.

The group presentation will be assessed as group work, whereas the contribution of individual students to the research report will be assessed individually. The final assessed essay will enable you to work independently and broaden the scope to explore global cities. It will be developed from a range of suggested titles in consultation with the lecturers.

Resources & Reading list

Textbooks

Deborah Stevenson (2003). Cities and Urban Cultures. Open Univ. Press.

Gary Bridge and Sophie Watson (2010). The Blackwell City Reader. Blackwell.

Fran Tonkiss (2006). Space, the City and Social Theory. Blackwell.

Steve Pile and Nigel Thrift (eds.) (2000). City a-z. Routledge.

Anna Minton (2009). Ground Control Fear and Happiness in the twenty-first- century city. Penguin.

Doreen Massey at al (eds.) (1999). City Worlds. Routledge.

Diarmit Mac Giolla Chriost (2007). Language and the City. Palgrave.

Michael Peter Smith (2001). Transnational Urbanism Locating Globalization. Blackwell.

Assessment strategy

Assessments designed to provide informal, on-module feedback

 Discussion of local group projects

 Discussion of essay plans

Formative

This is how we’ll give you feedback as you are learning. It is not a formal test or exam.

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal & External