I may have posted this before, but because PEN-L hasn't been working too
well over the past month or two (at least here it hasn't), I may have
not have sent it to PEN-L or I may have missed some replies.
Since making the original posting, I have gotten feedback that a good strategy
is having students study local problems. This seems a good idea, but how
does one have them integrate all the subject matter? For example, a very
rich local issue is a new mega-mall being constructed as a public-private
partnership in Providence. This could bring in all sorts of topics:
central place theory, the theory of the state, gender, land values,
post-fordism, etc. How does one split up the class to work on these
different aspects simultaneously while covering them sequentially in class
meetings?
Here's the original posting:
Hi,
I teach a course, "Spatial and Fiscal Relationships of Communities" to
second-years graduate students in a two-year community planning program.
The students have no required prior background in economics or geography.
I treat the course as a basic "urban theory" course, covering the
"classic" material in the field (e.g., central place theory, Weberian
location theory, the Chicago School's concentric zone theory, etc.) as
well as more recent stuff on globalization, flexible specialization,
economic restructuring, etc. The texts I've used in the past are
Dicken and Lloyd's _Location in Space_ and Mike Davis' _City of Quartz_.
I am a bit dissatisfied with the way the course has gone the past few years.
There is an enormous amount of material to cover, and it is hard for students
to engage the material in a way they find interesting. Davis' book, for
example, is often read as a dead history of Los Angeles rather than
an account with general lessons about the new global economy and its effects.
Does anyone out there teach a course like this or
have other thoughts on making the course more manageable and interesting to
students?
Marsh Feldman
Community Planning Phone: 401/792-2248
204 Rodman Hall FAX: 401/792-4395
University of Rhode Island Internet: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Kingston, RI 02881-0815
"Marginality confers legitimacy on one's contrariness."
