Jefferson Global Seminar Hong Kong, summer 2014 Office: IAS 2013 Katya Makarova Office Hours: Wed. 11:00-12:00 CITY AND MODERNITY. Course description

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1 Jefferson Global Seminar Hong Kong, summer 2014 Office: IAS 2013 Katya Makarova Office Hours: Wed. 11:00-12:00 and by appointment CITY AND MODERNITY Course description Cities are interesting, among other things, because they make visible and palpable the intangible qualities of social life. The famous urban sociologist Robert Park called the city a laboratory of social change. This course will enable you to explore the modern city in its many forms, at different times and in different cultures, East and West. Close attention to the ways in which cities are organized and inhabited allows us to explore such questions as, what does it mean to be modern?, is modernity more than just technology and industrialization?, and is modernity Western or are there other, non- Western, forms of modernity? The course explores the theories, concepts and contradictions of urban modernity through an investigation of concrete cities. It examines the development of the modern city, including such varieties as the socialist, colonial and postcolonial city. It also considers the ways in which globalization affects urban space and urban cultures around the world. Most classic urban theory relates to the development of the modern city in the West. But the analytical tools developed also enable us to engage in a critical examination of more contemporary urban developments in non-western regions such as China or the Persian Gulf. Cities such as Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, and Dubai are now at the very forefront of global urbanism. Change is a normal feature of any society but the speed, concentration and magnitude of social, cultural, economic and political changes in these and other cities seem to be unprecedented. The most radical transformations of these cities express an acute sense of a break with the past and the need to envision an alternative future, to re-imagine the nation and society through the re-organization and reordering of physical and social space. In this sense the analysis of urban transformations is one of the most revealing ways of understanding these momentous changes. Our location in Hong Kong gives us an unparalleled opportunity not only to explore one global city in detail, but also to use it as a testing-ground for theories about modern urban developments and the possible futures of urbanism. The course is multidisciplinary and does not require any prior knowledge of sociology or any other particular discipline. Course Format

2 2 Each class meeting will combine a lecture with engaged class discussion. Students will also work in small groups (4-5 people) to make regular field visits to particular sites in the city. Hong Kong provides a perfect case for exploring many of the topics in the course, both in itself and for comparative purposes. Each group will write a weekly journal of field observations and reflections. Ethnographic work will culminate in group projects that will take the form of an analytical photographic essay. These photographic essays will be presented visually and explained orally in our last class meeting on July 3. Course Assessment Throughout the course students will work both individually and in groups. Course assessment will be based on the following: - Attendance and participation in class discussions are very important and account for 25% of the final grade. Students should come to every class meeting having read the materials for that meeting and prepared to participate in class discussions. In addition, students will take turns to post online analytical responses to readings for each class. These responses (up to one page) should pick out the main points of the readings and raise questions that you feel would be important to discuss in class. These responses should be posted by noon before each class and every student should read them before coming to class. - An essay (5 pages) is due in class on June 24; it constitutes 30% of the final grade. Detailed guidelines and topics for the essay will be distributed on June 17. There will be two components to your group work: - Weekly group journal of observations and reflections on field visits (20%). Groups should produce three such journals; these should be posted on our web page by Tuesday, June 17; Monday, June 23; and Monday, June 30. You should also hand in hard copies of the journals on these dates. - Analytical photographic essay on Hong Kong (25%): this is a group project that draws on collaborative work to produce a collection of theme-based photographs accompanied by an explanatory account (5-7 pages due in class on July 3). This essay should be conceived as a sociological investigation addressing any of the questions raised by the course. The accompanying text should contain the following components: - Introduction - Framing of your theme/arguments in the relevant literature - Brief description of the contexts of your work, and of each member s role in producing this work - Insights and findings: discussion of relevant themes; what was revealed; what you particularly want to bring to the attention of the class - Reflection on challenges and limitations of this work - Conclusions All groups will make presentations of their photographic essays to the class on July 3.

3 3 Grades earned for group work will be collective ones. All written group work should specify the individual contribution of each group member and demonstrate a shared and equitable distribution of labour. Academic Honesty I encourage intellectual collaboration among students in discussing the readings and exchanging ideas generated by the course. However, all individual work you submit the papers and reading journals must be your own and reflect your own understanding of the material. Academic dishonesty is a serious offence and will be addressed according to the Honor Code. Close paraphrasing of others work or utilizing others ideas are not allowed without clear attributions. Learn the rules of quotation and follow them closely. See e.g. and for what constitutes academic fraud and how to avoid plagiarism. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about the use of sources, especially if you use internet materials. Readings Unless specified, all course readings, including additional materials will be available on Collab/LMES. I also encourage you to explore and use the rich resources of the HKUST library. Week I: June Course Outline and Reading Assignments Introduction to the course June 12 L. Mumford, What is a City? A. King, Worlds in the City: From Wonders of Modern Design to Weapons of Mass Destruction, in Spaces of Global Cultures: Architecture, Urbanism, Identity The pre-modern city and its transformation June 13 L. Lofland, The Preindustrial City, in A World of Strangers: Order and Action in Urban Public Space G. Sjoberg, The Preindustrial City T. Edensor, The Culture of the Indian Street, pp M. Girouard, Manchester and the Industrial City F. Engels, The Great Towns Situating Hong Kong: Workshop on urban ethnography and observation G. McDonogh and C. Wong, Global Hong Kong, ch.1 A. Abbas, Hong Kong: Culture and the Politics of Disappearance, (selections)

4 4 P. Cookson Smith, The Urban Design of Impermanence: Streets, Places and Spaces in Hong Kong (selections) A. Frampton, J. D. Solomon, Clara Wong, Cities Without Ground: A Hong Kong Guidebook Possible field trips: - Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok (Bird market, Flower market, Goldfish market, Temple Street, Reclamation Street, Ning Po Street, Tin Hau Temple) Week II: June Visit to the Hong Kong Museum of History June 16 The Making of the modern city Paris June 17 D. Harvey, Paris, Capital of Modernity, ch. 4, Organization of Space Relations, pp ; ch. 12, Consumerism, Spectacle, and Leisure, pp M. Berman, All That Is Solid Melts Into Air: The Experience of Modernity, ch.3.3, Modernism in the Streets: The Family of Eyes, pp New York and Chicago June 18 P. Hall, The Apotheosis of the Modern: New York , pp ; ; in Cities in Civilization (selections) M. Berman, All That Is Solid Melts Into Air: The Experience of Modernity ch. 5.1, In the Forest of Symbols: Some Notes on Modernism in New York, pp Le Corbusier, New York is Not a Completed City C. Chaplin, Modern Times (clips) Modernity and the critique of modernity June 19 J. Scott, ch. 4 The High Modernist City: An Experiment and Critique in Seeing Like a State: How Certain Conditions to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed G. Wright, Boulevard Muhammad V in Z. Celik et al., eds., Streets: Critical Perspectives on Public Space R. Murray, Fordism and Post-Fordism K.Kumar, The Rise of Modern Society Le Corbusier, Introduction, Eyes Which Do Not See: Airplanes from Towards a New Architecture Film: Berlin: Symphony of a Great City

5 5 The city and alternative modernities? June 20 A.Cinar, The Imagined Community as Urban Reality: The Making of Ankara, in A. Cinar and T. Bender, eds., Urban Imaginaries: Locating the Modern City Wu Hung, Displaying the People: National Day Parades and Exhibition Architecture, in Remaking Beijing: Tiananmen Square and the Creation of a Political Space T. Campanella, pp from The Concrete Dragon: China s Urban Revolution and What It Means for the World D. Lu, Work Unit Urbanism, in Remaking Chinese Urban Form: Modernity, Scarcity and Space, , pp Possible field trips and work in groups: - network of elevated pedestrian passageways (Macau Ferry Central Admiralty) - mid-levels escalators - TBA Week III: June New forms of urban space and urban culture? June 23 T. Campanella, ch. 2, Reclaiming Shanghai, and ch. 3, The Politics of the Past, in The Concrete Dragon: China s Urban Revolution and What It Means for the World M.C. Boyer, Cities for Sale: Merchandising History at South Street Seaport, in M. Sorkin, ed., The New American City and the End of Public Space Image, art and culture as strategies of urban renewal June 24 T. Campanella, ch. 5, City of Chai, in The Concrete Dragon: China s Urban Revolution and What It Means for the World P. Catungal, D. Leslie and Y. Hii, Geographies of Displacement in the Creative City: The Case of Liberty Village, Toronto, in Urban Studies, 46 (5 and 6), pp (online) A. Ku and C.Hong-chee Tsui, The Global City as a Cultural Project: The Case of the West Kowloon Cultural District, in H. Siu and A. Ku, Hong Kong Mobile: Making a Global Population The city as a theme park June 25 Z. Celik, Urban Preservation as Theme Park: the Case of Sogukcesme Street from Z. Celik et al., eds., Streets: Critical Perspectives on Public Space, 1994 T. Campanella, ch. 9, Theme Parks and the Landscapes of Consumption, in The Concrete Dragon: China s Urban Revolution and What It Meant for the World B. Bosker, ch. 1, Into The Land of Courtly Enjoyments : An Introduction to China s Architectural Mimicry, in Original Copies: Architectural Mimicry in Contemporary China (selections) The city and the world: globalization from below June 26

6 6 G. Mathews, ch. 1 Place, in Ghetto at the Center of the World: Chungking Mansions, Hong Kong June 27 Field Day Field trips and group work: - Hollywood Rd.? - West Kowloon Cultural District - Chungking Mansions - TBA Week IV: June 30-July 3 Public space and public culture June 30 I. Young, City Life and Difference (selections) J. Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities (selections) R. Sennett, The Spaces of Democracy L.Law, Defying Disappearance: Cosmopolitan Public Spaces in Hong Kong, in Urban Studies, Aug : (online) A. Ku, Making Heritage in Hong Kong: A Case Study of the Central Police Station Compound, in The China Quarterly, June 2010, pp K. Makarova, On Creating the Conditions of Sociability in the City: Reflections on the Public/Private Divide in Urban Life, Proceedings of the Beijing Forum, 2013, pp Field trips and group work: - a shopping mall - Star Ferry - TBA July 1 public holiday Urban Futures? July 2 N. Ouroussoff, The New, New City, New York Times Magazine, June 8, 2008 T. Campanella, Epilogue; China Reinvents the City, in The Concrete Dragon: China s Urban Revolution and What It Meant for the World D. Brooks, Dubai Inc. Proudly Presents the International City, in A History of Future Cities July 3 Conclusion to the course and group presentations.