Class attendance and participation

Attendance and participation are required for this course. Absence in more than two classes will harm your final grade, as will repeated failure to take part in class discussions and group exercises (in classroom and on Moodle). Come to class with the required readings (printed out or on laptop), having read and annotated them by their assigned dates. Attendance at Urban Studies lectures or other extracurricular events posted on the schedule is expected unless you have conflicting courses or required events.

A note about using technology in this course: I'm happy to let you use laptops and iPads to do the electronic readings and to take notes in class. Be conscientious when using these devices. If you find your reading comprehension suffers because you don't have a hard copy to write notes on, then print the electronic readings out. And please limit your use of laptops and iPads in the classroom to note-taking and internet browsing of course materials only. If your use of these technologies distracts yourself, other students or me, you'll be asked to turn off your wi-fi or your device.

Students are not allowed to use ChatGPT or other artificial intelligence writing platforms at any stage of the essay/memo assignments in this class.  

Moodle responses

Each week, a third of the class will write 200-300 words reflecting on some part of that week's readings, from one selection to all the pieces we read for the whole week. These writings are to be posted onto Moodle by Sunday at noon, so that the rest of the class (instructor included) can read them before Monday's class.

Essay sets

On February 13, April 3, and May 9 (the last day of the study period), you'll turn in a pair of approximately 1000-word essays that responds to prompts drawn from the readings and lectures.

Book review

On March 1 you'll submit a roughly 3-4 page memo that addresses a chapter of your choice from the forthcoming Oxford Handbook of Urban Sociology.