Urban Dynamics: Global, Regional and Local Connections

Cities are a study in contrast - both a source of opportunity and a place where great wealth and poverty coincide. U.S. cities face enormous challenges as globalization has sparked a new era of urban innovation, yet has also intensified inequality and spurred new technologies of social control. This course asks: How have U.S. cities changed over the last century? How is globalization impacting the lives and opportunities of city dwellers? How do gender, age, race/ethnicity, class, and citizenship affect urban residents' experiences? How do urban policies and social movements advance or impede social justice across groups and places? Course topics include the social, economic, and political forces restructuring cities, inequality and diversity in the city, cities in the global economy, and the future of cities. 

Why take this course in Rome?

This course will be substantially modified to incorporate its delivery in Rome by using material that focuses on the economic, social, and political forces restructuring cities in Italy and Europe and how urban Europe is adapting to the changing contours of the global economy. We will give special attention to the urban economics of culture/heritage/tourism (with a focus on Rome), high-end design in fashion, automobiles, eyewear, etc. (with case studies set in Milan), and the challenges of demography and immigration.