Between Reality and Imagination: Constructions of Modern Cityscapes (Honors Course)

Course also listed as HSS 2210

CATALOG DESCRIPTION:

This Honors seminar will offer students the opportunity to study different ways of experiencing and understanding the material (social, political and historic) as well as imaginary dimensions of modern urban spaces. Emphasis upon city imaginaries aims to expose students to various discourses (sociological, aesthetic, literary, etc.) as tools for the study of modern cityscapes.

RATIONALE:

The modern metropolis is experienced and represented both as a symbolic topos and as a purely material site. Urban theory, literature, visual arts and film, construct the modern metropolis in a variety of ways by means of theoretical, literary, artistic and cinematic representations. In employing an interdisciplinary approach, this course invites students to examine the modern city as an ‘object of the imagination’ as well as the product and producer of a concrete social reality.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

Upon completion of the seminar course, the students will be able to:

1. Explain cultural, sociological and political issues related to constructions of modern cityscapes;

2. Analyze a variety of city imaginaries as presented in philosophical and sociological treatments of the modern cityscapes, in films, literature and modernist art;

3. Examine interrelations between social, cultural, political, and historical dimensions of the modern metropolis;

4. Apply their own interdisciplinary approaches to the study of the modern metropolis and contemporary urban life.

METHOD OF TEACHING AND LEARNING:

In congruence with the teaching and learning strategy of the college, the the following tools are used:

• Textual analysis, class discussion, and group work during class meetings.
• Active student-centered teaching approach.
• Film screenings.
• Individual and/or group student presentations.
• Extensive instructor feedback on presentations and essays.
• Individualized assistance during office hours for additional reading, presentations and essays.
• Additional print material, including reproductions of paintings depicting the modern city (paintings and sketches by L. Meidner, G. Grosz, O. Dix, M. Beckmann, L. Feininger, L. Lozowick, E. Hopper, H. Bayer, C.O. Monet, etc.)
• Other relevant educational material placed on reserve in the library.