POLIS TO METROPOLIS: HISTORY OF THE EUROPEAN CITY

Catalog description

This course examines urban identities in Europe from antiquity to the present, including Greek and Roman cities; medieval cities, city leagues and city law; early modern planned communities, court residences and commercial metropolises; 18th and 19th century resort towns, 19th century capital cities and industrial cities; the devastation of the World Wars; and post-war reconstruction. The course examines cities as "windows" into the societies they serve; the fortunes and misfortunes of cities are treated as mirrors of regional economic, political and social trends. The thematic focus of the course is on the political "message" encoded in architecture, design and layout, and the course interprets the outward face of cities as an expression of political identity, power and even civic virtù. This course is offered primarily at the Stark Campus.