ARC 340—Building the city - A global history of urbanism

This course introduces students to how we have invented, transformed, and challenged the city - arguably humankind’s most impressive achievement. Through lectures, readings, discussions, and documentaries, this course will take you on a whirlwind tour of the history of cities, as they are built and transformed by various actors and forces over the course of more than seven millennia. The first part of the course covers the origins of cities and their evolution through the major eras of global civilization. The second part of the course covers theories and practices of city building today, debating and measuring how they shape our contemporary living environment. This course is the same as END 340.