GEOG 331: URBAN SOCIAL GEOGRAPHY FALL 2016 Thursdays 14:35-17:25, Burnside 306

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1 GEOG 331: URBAN SOCIAL GEOGRAPHY FALL 2016 Thursdays 14:35-17:25, Burnside 306 Prof. Amy Twigge-Molecey Office: Room 418, Burnside Hall. Office hours: Thursdays 1:00-2:15 Course Description: The course provides an overview of how socially constructed differences shape spatial relationships in cities. It begins by introducing the Chicago School s traditional understanding of the city as a mosaic of neighbourhoods shaped by the interplay between social class, family status and ethnicity. This is juxtaposed with a Cities of Difference approach to understanding how multiple and shifting aspects of identity make cities contested terrains of difference. We will examine how difference is produced and experienced in urban space drawing on insights of critical, feminist, queer and anti-racist geographers. Special effort will be made to ground these complex aspects of identity and difference in lived realities through the use of documentary film. Prerequisites: GEOG 216 or GEOG 217 or permission of the instructor. Readings: Permalinks to all the readings for the course have been posted on mycourses, following the schedule laid out in the course outline. This requires students to follow the links on the MyCourses GEOG 331 page to download PDFs of the readings, however, it also means that all the readings are free (as opposed to having a course pack which students must pay for). Students are expected to read the assigned readings prior to class and be prepared to discuss them. Course format: The first 6 weeks of class will have the following format: 1) lecture by instructor; 2) documentary film excerpts that ground lecture themes in everyday realities; 3) questions and discussion. Beginning in Week 7 the class format will change slightly. The second half of the course will have the following format: 1) lecture by instructor; 2) student presentations; 3) questions and discussion. Evaluation: Requirement Value Date In-class test 1 25% October 6 th, 2016 In-class test 2 25% November 3 rd, 2016 In-class test 3 30% December 1 st, 2016 Group project/presentation 20% 1

2 In-class tests: More information on the format of in-class tests will be provided in class. Students who miss an inclass test and have a valid reason (emergency, illness, etc.) must inform the instructor as soon as possible. Upon presentation of authoritative documentation of their circumstances a make-up test will be given (during the instructor s office hours). Group project: Social Geographies of Montreal The goal of the group project is for you to explore part of Montreal in relation to the themes that we examine in the course. In groups of 4, you will choose a site, for example, a neighbourhood, a street, a monument, or a building. You will conduct both primary research (on-site observations, photos, etc.) and secondary research (existing academic studies, reports, etc.) and explore that site in relation to 2 of the themes of the course. Your grade for this assignment will be based upon two components. 1) Presentation outline and preliminary bibliography (5%). Two weeks before your groups assigned presentation date, each group will be required to come to the instructor s office hours for a 20-minute meeting to discuss their topic and progress to date. At this time, each group must submit a 1-page presentation outline and preliminary bibliography. 2) The bulk of your grade for the group project will be for the presentation to the class and will be worth 15% of your overall grade in the course. Students are expected to use PowerPoint and will submit a copy of their PowerPoint to the instructor the day of the presentation. Student presentations will begin in the 7 th week of the course. The instructor will assign each group a presentation date. Group presentations should average 15 minutes, with 10 minutes per group for questions and discussion. Material from the student presentations may be on in-class tests #2 and #3. Academic integrity: McGill University values academic integrity. Therefore, all students must understand the meaning and consequences of cheating, plagiarism and other academic offences under the Code of Student Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures (see for more information). In accord with McGill University s Charter of Students Rights, students in this course have the right to submit in English or French any written work that is to be graded. For information on university and department policies for student assessment, please go to Detailed Course Outline and Reading List: 2016 Week 1: September 8th, The City as a Mosaic? Burgess, E. W. (1967 [1926]). The Growth of the City: An Introduction to a Research Project. In R. E. Park & E. W. Burgess. (Eds.), The City. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Park, R. E. (1915). The city: suggestions for the investigation of human behaviour in the city environment. American Journal of Sociology, 20(5),

3 Week 2: September 15 th, Cities of Difference ****** Formation of groups for group project***** Jacobs, J. M., & Fincher, R. (1998). Introduction. In R. Fincher & J. M. Jacobs (Eds.), Cities of Difference. New York: Guilford Press. Sandercock, L. (2000). When Strangers Become Neighbours: Managing Cities of Difference. Planning Theory and Practice, 1(1), Valentine, G. (2008). Living with difference: reflections on geographies of encounter. Progress in Human Geography, 32(3), Week 3: September 22 nd - Radical Urban Geographies: Framing Homelessness Blomley, N. (2004). Chapter One: Welcome to the Hotel California in Unsettling the City: Urban Land and the Politics of Property (pp. 1-28). New York and London: Routledge Mitchell, D. (1997). The Annihilation of Space by Law: The Roots and Implications of Anti-Homeless Laws in the United States. Antipode, 29(3), Sylvestre, M.-E. (2010). Disorder and Public Spaces in Montreal: Repression (and Resistance) Through Law, Politics, and Police Discretion. Urban Geography, 31(6), Week 4: September 29 th - Gentrification, Diversity and Social Mix Lees, L. (2008). Gentrification and Social Mixing: Towards an Inclusive Urban Renaissance? Urban Studies, 45(12), Rose, D. (2004). Discourses and Experiences of Social Mix in Gentrifying Neighborhoods: A Montreal Case Study. Canadian Journal of Urban Research, 13(2), Smith, N. (2002). New Globalism, New Urbanism: Gentrification as Global Urban Strategy. Antipode, 34(3), Week 5: October 6 th - In-class Test #1 Week 6: October 13 th - Gender Relations and Urban Space England, K. (1993). Suburban pink collar ghettos: the spatial entrapment of women. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 83(2), Gilbert, M. (1998). 'Race,' space and power: the survival strategies of working poor women. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 88(4), Kern, L. (2010). Gendering reurbanisation: women and new-build gentrification in Toronto. Population, Space and Place, 16(5),

4 Week 7: October 20 th - Young People in Urban Public Space***** Student Presentations begin in 2 nd half of Class***** Collins, D. C. A., & Kearns, R. A. (2000). Under curfew and under siege? Legal geographies of young people. Geoforum, 32, Lees, L. (2010). The Ambivalence of Diversity and the Politics of Urban Renaissance: The Case of Youth in Downtown Portland, Maine. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 27(3), Thomas, M. (2005). Girls, consumption space and the contradictions of hanging out in the city. Social & Cultural Geography, 6(4), Week 8: October 27 th Urban Segregation: Comparing the U.S. and Canada Marker Feld, M. (1989). The Yonkers Case and Its Implications for the Teaching and Practice of Planning. Journal of Planning Education and Research, 8(3), Poulsen, M., Forrest, J., & Johnston, R. (2002). From Modern to Post-Modern? Contemporary ethnic residential segregation in four US metropolitan areas. Cities, 19(3), Walks, R. A., & Bourne, L. S. (2006). Ghettos in Canada's cities? Racial segregation, ethnic enclaves and poverty concentration in Canadian urban areas. The Canadian Geographer, 50(3), Week 9: November 3 rd In-Class Test #2 Week 10: November 10 th Diversity in Immigrants Settlements From Enclave to Ethnoburb Li, W. (1998). Anatomy of a new ethnic settlement: The Chinese ethnoburb in Los Angeles. Urban Studies, 35(3), Liu, M., & Geron, K. (2008). Changing Neighbourhood: Ethnic Enclaves and the Struggle for Social Justice. Social Justice, 35(2), Ray, B. K., Halseth, G., & Johnson, B. (1997). The Changing Face of the Suburbs: Issues of Ethnicity and Residential Change in Suburban Vancouver. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 21(1), Week 11: November 17 th Racialized Privilege in Urban Space Anderson, K. J. (1987). The Idea of Chinatown: The Power of Place and Institutional Practice in the Making of a Racial Category. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 77(4), Housel, J. A. (2009). Geographies of whiteness: the active construction of racialized privilege in 4

5 Buffalo, New York. Social & Cultural Geography, 10(2), Shaw, W. (2000). Ways of Whiteness: Harlemising Sydney s Aboriginal Redfern. Australian Geographical Studies, 38(3), Week 12: November 24 th Sexuality and the City Doan, P. (2007). Queers in the American city: transgendered perceptions of urban space. Gender, Place and Culture, 14(1), Pritchard, A., Morgan, N., & Segley, D. (2003). In search of lesbian space? The experience of Manchester's gay village. Leisure Studies, 21(2), Tucker, A. (2009). Framing exclusion in Cape Town's gay village: the discursive and material perpetration of inequitable queer subjects. Area, 41(2), Week 13: December 1 st In-class Test #3 5

Political Geography Geography 450:405 Fall Required Materials (available at Livingston Campus Bookstore and on reserve at Kilmer Library)

Political Geography Geography 450:405 Fall 2009 Instructor: Trevor Birkenholtz Office: B 218 Lucy Stone Hall (Livingston Campus) Office Phone: (732) 445 2445 Email: trevbirk@rci.rutgers.edu Office Hours: