Description In recent years, urban planning and public health professionals have recognized the role the planning profession plays in sustaining community health. During much of the twentieth century, public health professionals believed that the key to community health was an individual’s health. If we focus on individuals, and improve their health, we would improve the [...]
Description How have cities changed in the last 5000, 500, or 50 years? This course introduces students to the sweep of urban history by examining shifting patterns of development, expansion, social relationships, and economic activities. We trace the evolution of the city’s form and development through the ancient world, medieval Europe, and modern America. Examples … Read More
Description This reading and research seminar explores the ordinary landscapes of America’s cities since roughly 1880. Drawing upon a variety of readings and site visits, the class will engage in discussions about the historical development of these landscapes. We shall discuss the role of social class, gender, ethnicity and race in shaping these places, and [...]
Description We live in an urban world. The number of urban residents worldwide is already more than half, and it is constantly growing. The lives and activities of public policy analysts, planners, government officials, real estate developers, community organizers, and business leaders are shaped by this metropolitan world. This course examines the twentieth and twenty-first [...]
Description Until very recently, when most Americans thought of Los Angeles, they did not image a multiracial metropolis. Instead, Hollywood’s portrait of LA shaped their imagination with visions of Jack Webb, the Nelson family, Beaver and his brother, the Brady Bunch, and Donna Reed. The view was black and white, and not just in the [...]
Description Until very recently, when most Americans thought of Los Angeles, they did not image a multiracial metropolis. Instead, Hollywood’s portrait of LA shaped their imagination with visions of Jack Webb, the Nelson family, Beaver and his brother, the Brady Bunch, and Donna Reed. Blacks, especially after the catastrophic Watts Revolt or Riot, depending upon [...]
Description Animals play a integral part in our everyday lives. We kill and eat animals; we wear their skins; we hurt and kill them to learn about dangers to our health; we cherish them as pets; we cage them for our education; and we race them for sport. In each activity, humans make certain assumptions [...]
Description Social policy and urban planning are inextricably linked. Transportation, economic, and other policies shape the structure of the metropolis. Access to health care, quality education, healthy food and recreation is influenced by the neighborhood in which we live. This course examines the intersection of urban planning and social policy. At times, we focus on [...]
Description While humans have been planning cities since the beginning of the urban era, only recently has a distinct profession of (city and) urban planning emerged and a fuller understanding of the role of real estate development become apparent. This course provides an overview of urban history, focusing on the interaction of urban planning and … Read More
