SOC-30025 - Module Specification
School of Social Sciences
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Programme/Approved Electives for 2024/25

Available as a Free Standing Elective

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2024/25

We live on an urbanised planet. Despite looming environmental disaster, more people now live in cities than at any other point in human history. In this module we trace the social and cultural politics of the city from Ancient Athens to contemporary mega-cities, such as Los Angeles, Tokyo, and Lagos. Following the introductory lecture, which examines the meaning of the original cities of the ancient world, the first part of the module, 'modern cities', offers a consideration of the late 19th century / early 20th century European metropolises.
After an exploration of the ideas of metropolitan psychology, fashion, and the department store in the works of Georg Simmel and Walter Benjamin, we move on to think about the city in the late 20th century. Here we think about the situationist city, the spectacular city, and the surveillance city and consider the ideas of Guy Debord, Henri Lefebvre, and Michel Foucault.
In the second part of the module, 'post-modern cities', we study the American mega-city. For writers such as Fredric Jameson, Jean Baudrillard, and Mike Davis cities such as Los Angeles and Las Vegas are strange surreal places. In this section of the course we explore the post-modern city through the ideas of simulation, informationalism, urban violence, the ghetto, and the obsession with security. The city is now no longer a space of safety and civilization, but a place of danger, fear, and insecurity.
After our exploration of the post-modern city, the final section of the module examines contemporary mega-cities of the global south. We begin with a consideration of Mike Davis's study of the slum and then move on to think about the ideas of pollution, environmental degradation, and danger in contemporary mega-cities. In this regard, we think about the future of the city. In a world fast running out of the resources necessary to sustain life, can we continue to live in vast cities? Does the city have a future or will it soon become a relic of history?
The aim of the module is to explore the social and cultural politics of the city in history from its origins in the Ancient world to the contemporary mega-city and beyond.

To teach students the history of the city and its changing forms.
To teach students the core theories of the city and to enable them to apply these theories beyond their original context.
To enable students to understand the relationship between individuals, society, and the built environment.
To encourage students to think about the ways that society, culture, economy, politics, intersect with space.

Intended Learning Outcomes

evaluate the history of the city through the discussion of core examples drawn from the ancient, modern, and post-modern epochs.: 2
evaluate the sociological distinctions between different kinds of cities in terms of the transition from ancient through modern to post-modern society.: 1,2
communicate, summarise, and represent complex information through a combination of text and visual imagery.: 1
demonstrate knowledge of the core theories of the city and apply these beyond the first context.: 1,2
create analyses of contemporary cities on the basis of knowledge of core theories of urban space.: 1,2
develop synthetic models for understanding cities on the basis of existing theoretical materials.: 2
critically assess the relationship between the city and society through the discussion of examples.: 1,2

Study hours

20 contact hours - 10 lectures / 10 tutorials
44 Additional active learning hours comprising set key readings and tasks related to seminar preparation and other online activities set by the module leader
26 independent study
60 hours assessment preparation
150 HOURS

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment