Unit information: Postcolonial Cities in 2011/12

Unit name	Postcolonial Cities
Unit code	GEOGM1410
Credit points	20
Level of study	M/7
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director	Mr. Jackson
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	School of Geographical Sciences
Faculty	Faculty of Science

Description including Unit Aims

This course will introduce students to the interdisciplinary study of post-colonial urbanism. Blending a geographically and conceptually patterned approach with thematic analyses of postcolonial discourses and practices, the course will investigate key areas of concern, which could include: urbanism and urbanization, resource scarcity, suburbanization, enclosure and global neo-colonialism (ex. food production for cities), urban segregation, spatial inequality, global urban assemblages and resistant localisms, forced and economic migration, urban technics and military distance, neo-imperialism, racism and spatial diversity, nationalism and urban cosmopolitanism, resource conflicts, urban resistance, political ecology, urban ecology, as well as representational strategies for characterizing the postcolonial urban experience around the globe. The unit will focus on key postcolonial cities in the metropole (ex. London, Berlin, Lisbon, etc.) and the periphery (ex. Calcutta, Johannesburg, Lagos, etc.), as well as lesser known postcolonial urban sites (ex. Novosibirsk, Astana, Tianjin, etc.)

The module will be taught through a two-hour combination of lectures and seminars, the latter to include discussion and presentations by students. The critical analysis of visual materials including maps, photographs, paintings, drawings, and films will accompany the expectations for the course.

The aims of this unit are:

• To introduce students to contemporary theoretical and empirical approaches to thinking about postcolonial urbanism through a range of interdisciplinary registers.
• To enable them to examine critically different kinds of visual and textual sources and discursive techniques which engage the topics of colonialism, postcolonialism, neo-colonialism, violence, ecology, urbanization, development, globalization, identity, diasporas, representation, homogeneity, heterogeneity, etc…with an eye to applying their learning in specific and reflective contexts.

Intended Learning Outcomes

On completion of this Unit students should be able to:

• Critically assess contemporary theoretical and empirical debates in the interdisciplinary analysis of postcolonialism, urbanism, and development
• Understand and communicate the complexities of defining and describing key interdisciplinary registers related to postcolonialism, urbanism, globalisation, and development
• Appreciate and extend the inherent and necessary interdisciplinarity of reading postcolonial critique
• Demonstrate analytical and conceptual skills in their oral and written work.

The following transferable skills are developed in this Unit:

• Written and oral communication
• Discursive analysis of multiple and interdependent textual forms
• Lateral, critical and analytical reasoning
• Planning and implementing applied research projects

Teaching Information

Teaching will consist primarily of seminar and discussion oriented presentations by the lecturer, with one hour after for semi-structured discussion, and student and group presentations.

Assessment Information

1500-word critical enquiry paper (30%); 3000-word research paper (70%)

Reading and References

1. A. Huyssen, Other Cities, Other Worlds (Duke University Press 2008)
2. B. Freund, The African City (Cambridge UP, 2007)
3. G. Prakash and K.M. Kruse, The Spaces of the Modern City (Princeton UP, 2008)
4. J. Robinson, Ordinary Cities (Routledge, 2006)
5. A. Lowenhawpt-Tsing, Frictions (Duke UP, 2007)
6. A. King, Spaces of Global Cultures (Routledge, 2004)
7. J. Wainwright, Decolonizing Development (Blackwell, Oxford, 2008)
8. J. Cribb, The Coming Famine (Berkeley: U of California Press, 2010)
9. D. Satterthwaite, G. McGranahan and C. Tacoli, "Urbanization and its implications for food and farming" Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B (2010) 365, 2809–2820.