SOC-3050.LA: Social Theory of the City

What does it mean to live in a city? How does urban life shape and construct our identities and experiences? What role do urban processes play in the construction of racial, ethnic, class, gender, sexual, and political identities? What do people mean when they talk about the ghetto, the inner city, or bringing life back to downtown? In this course, traditional urban concerns such as community, anonymity, social difference, spatial divisions, urban renewal/gentrification, safety, violence, and crime are examined anew through the lens of a broad range of social theory. Students work with theory from sociology, geography, media studies, ethnic studies, feminist studies, and queer studies to analyze critically the intersections between urban spatial form and the (de)construction of social categories. The course is organized around the analysis and deconstruction of a series of dualisms: center/periphery, native/foreign, white/black, rich/poor, civilized/savage, safe/criminal, private/public, male/female, and straight/queer. These dualisms reflect popularly held, but overly simplistic, assumptions about how social life in the city works. We will take the artificial divisions between these purportedly oppositional concepts as our entry point into a discussion of the greater complexity of urban social life.
Min. Credits: 3.0 Max Credits: 4.0
Credit Basis: Quarter credit
Location(s): Antioch Univ Los Angeles
Method(s): Classroom
Faculty Consent Required: N
Program Approval Required: N
Course Type Liberal Arts, Science & Social Science

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SOC-3050.LA: Social Theory of the City