Topics in Urban Studies: Gentrification

Catalog description

This is a topics course. Course content varies. Current topic description: In 1964, Ruth Glass coined the term "gentrification" to describe the movement of the middle classes into working-class city neighborhoods. However, in the proceeding years, gentrification has been deployed in ways that go beyond that original conceptualization. For some, gentrification is responsible for "killing cities," while others view it as a tool for rebuilding them. In this course, students will engage historical and contemporary debates, across disciplines, related to gentrification. Incorporating a range of popular media (e.g., film, television, and music) into spatial and social analyses, the course explores how this spatial phenomenon and experience is defined through its depiction and projection. Ultimately, students will develop skills for analytically evaluating gentrification's causes and outcomes. The course includes site visits and group work, with a mix of discussions and lectures.