Space, Place, and Identity in NYC WNY 313

Instructor: Merida Rua

This interdisciplinary course takes a critical look at the social and spatial construction of a multiracial New York. We begin by exploring concepts and theories used to examine the structures and people that make up a city: In what ways do economic, political, and socio-cultural factors affect urban life and development? How do people make meaning and take possession of the places they inhabit? We then focus on select communities in NYC and examine diverse histories of migration and place-making, inter-ethnic and inter-racial relations, community building and identity formation, and the racialization of urban space. Working with ethnography, critical essays, poetry, fiction, and fieldwork assignments we will consider how categories of social difference are formulated, performed, and inscribed in notions of urban place. Evaluation will be based on class participation, various field research assignments, and a final paper, which will be a revision and expansion of ideas explored in the field research assignments.