CHID 390 A: Colloquium in the History of Ideas

"KNOWING THE CITY: FROM POETICS TO POLITICAL ECONOMY" OUR READINGS AND DISCUSSIONS THIS QUARTER WILL REVOLVE AROUND THE QUESTION, "HOW CAN ONE 'KNOW' A CITY?" A PRIMARY CONCERN OF OURS WILL BE EXPLORING THE TENSIONS BETWEEN WHAT KINDS OF KNOWLEDGE HAVE HISTORICALLY 'COUNTED' AS KNOWLEDGE OF CITIES AND ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES FOR UNDERSTANDING, INTERPRETING, AND EXPERIENCING URBAN SPACES. AS THE TITLE OF THE COURSE SUGGESTS, WE WILL INVESTIGATE CITIES FROM THE PERSPECTIVES OF BOTH POETICS AND POLITICAL ECONOMY, BUT THIS ALLITERATIVE COUPLE DOES NOT EXHAUST OUR TOOLKIT. WE WILL ALSO INTERROGATE URBAN KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION VIA AFFECT, QUEER, FEMINIST, AND CRITICAL THEORY, NARRATIVE AND EXPERIMENTAL WRITING AND FILM, URBAN GEOGRAPHY AND PLANNING, AS WELL AS PERFORMANCE AND MEDIA STUDIES.