Urban Studies

BERLIN (PART 1)—CITY AS STAGE: IMAGING A CITY • Identify elements of the Berlin city image portrayed in the film Run Lola Run BERLIN (PART 2)—THE INDUSTRIAL METROPOLIS ON THE EVE OF MODERNITY • Identify elements of the city image portrayed in the film Berlin: Symphony of a Great City • Discuss the urban issues identifiable in the film Berlin: Symphony of a Great City PARIS (PART 1)—WALKING IN PARIS, CITY OF LOVE • Identify elements of medieval and Grand Manner (Haussmann) urban form illustrated in the film Cléo from 5 to 7 • Discuss the walkable characteristics of 1960s Paris identifiable in the film Cléo from 5 to 7 PARIS (PART 2)—PARIS MEETS MODERNITY • Identify the elements of modernist planning illustrated in the film Play Time • Discuss how the film Play Time presents a critique of modernism, and its effect on cities and their inhabitants LOS ANGELES (PART 1)—THE UNSTOPPABLE URBAN GROWTH MACHINE • Identify the historical (in)accuracies portrayed in the fictional film Chinatown regarding suburban growth in LA • Discuss how the concept of the urban growth machine is portrayed in the film Chinatown LOS ANGELES (PART 2)—URBAN DECLINE AND ADAPTIVE REUSE IN A SEASIDE SLUM • Describe how Venice went from “Coney Island of the Pacific” to seaside slum, as depicted in Dogtown and Z-Boys • Discuss how the strategy of informal (unplanned) adaptive reuse is illustrated in the film Dogtown and Z-Boys NEW YORK CITY (PART 1)—THE ALLURE OF THE CITY VS URBAN ALIENATION • Identify the ways in which the allure of the city influenced the actions of Joe Buck in the film Midnight Cowboy • Discuss how the concept of urban alienation in the big city is portrayed in the film Midnight Cowboy NEW YORK CITY (PART 2)—THE URBAN IMMIGRANT EXPERIENCE • Describe the harsh realities of the urban immigrant experience in New York City, as depicted in the film Entre Nos • Discuss how the concepts of social capital (or lack of) and informal economies are illustrated in the film Entre Nos RIO DE JANEIRO—YOUTH, POVERTY, AND SURVIVAL IN THE URBAN SLUM • Describe how the physical conditions of public housing depicted in the film City of God left residents marginalized • Discuss how the concept of upward mobility impacted the actions of residents of the favela in the film City of God MEXICO CITY—SOCIAL DISCONFORMITY AND INEQUALITY IN THE NEOLIBERAL MEGACITY • Discuss the physical structure and sociopolitical realities of Mexico City depicted in the film Güeros • Identify examples of social disconformity, as well as social inequality, depicted in the film Güeros RIYADH—MOBILITY, SUBURBAN ISOLATION, AND WOMEN • Identify the physical, social, and cultural factors contributing to suburban isolation, as depicted in the film Wadjda • Discuss how the concept of mobility impacted the actions of Wadjda and her mother in the film Wadjda NEW URBANIST UTOPIAS AND THE LURE OF NEOTRADITIONALISM • Identify the New Urbanist principles illustrated in the town of Seahaven (aka Seaside) in the film The Truman Show • Discuss how the film The Truman Show presents a critique of neotraditionalism and the New Urbanism DYSTOPIAN URBAN VISIONS OF THE FUTURE • Identify the way in which privacy and security were handled in the dystopian urban vision portrayed in the film Brazil • Discuss how contemporary cities do and do not exhibit the characteristics of the city illustrated in the film Brazil