Metropolitan Seminar (Section One):
Diversity and Inequality in Global Chicago
Instructor: Rebecca Burwell, Ph.D.
This seminar will spend time observing and learning from diverse urban communities, with particular attention to the history, culture, and economic conditions of these neighborhoods. We will study immigration patterns; race and ethnic relations in Chicago; community building and organizing; and issues such as displacement/gentrification, poverty, and economic development. We will focus on the Chicago experience and how it relates to larger global processes.
Metropolitan Seminar (Section Two):
Urban Planning, the Public Arts and the Development of the Modern City
Instructor: Clinton Stockwell, Ph.D.
This seminar will focus on the evolution and development of the city, with particular emphasis on the built environment in Chicago. We will explore the significance of the city’s architecture, sculpture, parks, community murals and impacts of city design. The seminar will seek to understand and critique the city’s built environment through field trips, guest speakers, readings and class discussions. We will begin by looking at the 1909 Burnham Plan for the city, then move to explore the impact of builders of the city such as Frank Lloyd Wright and Mies Van Der Rohe, and also Richard J. Daley. We will then proceed by comparing the built environment downtown with what has or has or has not happened in the neighborhoods and ethnic and racial communities beyond the Loop. At heart is the assumption that humans in the city live, impact and are impacted by their physical urban spaces. The course will address issues of environmental sustainability, aesthetic beauty and the importance of a civic culture that is at its best when it shapes its own environment.
Metropolitan Seminar (Section Three):
Religion and Urban America
Instructor: Cynthia Stewart, MA, MTS, M.Div
This seminar is a survey of religious life in Chicago, including various forms of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism and new religious movements. We will explore various religious institutions by attending actual places of worship or attend religious or social gatherings so that students may get a feel for the sacred space of particular religious communities and their social context. Learning activities include participant observation at religious events (services), directed reading, group discussions, guest lectures, panel discussions, and informant interviewing.
Metropolitan Seminar (Section Four):
Community Building
Instructor: Susan Rans, M.A.
This seminar will use the city as a laboratory as we examine the ways in which people come together as citizens to address issues and make change. We will learn some of the language of the field of Community Development and examine its texts. We will learn to use the tools of citizenship as we explore ways to build people, build places and build power. And we will also learn from community leaders and activists who believe that the way to a better, more sustainable and more just city is in their hands and the hands of their neighbors.