Instructor:
In this course, we survey digital resources that help us understand how contemporary social and economic inequality have been (and continue to be) designed. We examine how twentieth century redlining, freeway construction, and urban renewal affect how we experience community and difference in present-day US cities. For their “City Stories,” students conduct research on an American city of their choice. They focus on one aspect, area, freeway, or neighborhood within that city and tell its story using images from a series of digital resources we will explore as a class. The goal is to understand how contemporary crises like ongoing segregation, homelessness, food deserts, gentrification, and white flight are rooted in design, policy, and environmental histories. The class culminates with group City Story presentations, giving everyone in the class a broad understanding of how difference and disparity manifest in American cities and society.