Fall 2017 Geography 8: Urban Studies (Online)

Professor Pete Morris
 Office Hours (HSS 385)


morris_pete@smc.edu
 Mondays 11a–Noon and 2:15–3:15p

office: (310) 434-8654 Tuesdays 1p–2p

Wednesdays 11a–Noon

Course Website

+ other times by appointment
www.smc.edu/OnlineEd

Canvas Tech Support

(844) 303-0352 // Canvas Guides

Course Summary and Objectives
This 3-unit course introduces students to the interdisciplinary study of the urban world—
cities and their suburbs, too. Given the sprawling nature not just of cities today but of
urban studies itself, this class cannot help being highly introductory. Rather than make you
an instant expert, my principle goal is to inspire your curiosity in the urban (and suburban)
places around you and hopefully pave the way for a lifetime of learning about and living
within cities.
This course is both global and historical in perspective; while we pay close attention to
our local Los Angeles metropolitan area, we will attempt to understand it in its larger
context as one of today’s premier world cities and megacities. We will examine cities as
complex social groupings of people, as well as lived-in landscapes of buildings, pathways,
and public and private spaces. Our attention will turn both to what cities are and have
been (the evolving urban experience of the past and present) and to ever-changing ideas
about what cities should be (urban planning and design for the future).
A bit more specifically, students who successfully complete this course should expect at
semester’s end to be able to:
• recognize and apply different conceptions of urban (the city) as distinct from
suburban and rural;
• discuss major concepts and themes in contemporary urban planning and design,
understood within their historic-geographic context;

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• apply historical-geographical and/or theoretical insight to discussions of present-

day urban issues such as housing, transportation, urban (re)development,
gentrification, segregation, and policies to control and combat urban sprawl;
• describe, discuss, and differentiate common types of urban spaces from a variety of
historical-geographical contexts (e.g., CBD, agora, commercial strip, streetcar
suburb); this includes the ability to apply a number of theoretical models that
scholars have developed to better understand patterns of urban morphology;
• critically read urban landscapes, especially those of Santa Monica and the rest of
greater Los Angeles—the quintessential postmodern, “fragmented” metropolis;
what is good about our city, what is bad about our city, how might conditions be
improved, and what obstacles and challenges stand in the way of such
improvement?;
• see and understand the world’s ever-evolving connections between peoples, cities,
and environments, particularly in this dynamic age of globalization; and
• locate, compile, and analyze a variety of demographic and socio-economic data,
in combination with visual and textual sources, to describe and assess specific
urban settings and situations.


For college administrative purposes, these course objectives have been distilled into the
following pair of official “student learning outcomes”:
• Having been presented with specific lists of core concepts in urban geography and
urban studies, students will be able to define and apply these concepts to specific
contexts.
• Having been presented with a review of different examples of urban morphology,
urbanization, and urban design, from a variety of historical geographic contexts,
students will be able to critically evaluate their local urban surroundings and make
a well-reasoned argument regarding what is good about their city, what is bad
about their city, and how conditions might be improved—as well as the obstacles
and challenges that might stand in the way.

Guidelines and Policies

It is important that you bring to this course a realistic expectation of the amount of time
and effort it requires. While learning online can be more convenient than a traditional
classroom setting, this is not designed to be a stripped-down, “light” version of the course.
Indeed, you should expect to invest as much time working on this course online as you
would in the classroom—perhaps even more. Especially because you do not have regular
class meetings to attend each week, doing well in this class requires a great deal of
maturity and self-discipline. My advice is to make this class a routine, and set aside a
regular block of time each week in which you dedicate your attention to the online
lectures, assignments, and accompanying readings that are presented with this class.
Log-in to our Canvas website and participate often—several times each week, if not daily.
This is essential to completing and passing the course, and your failure to participate
during the first couple weeks of the semester will result in you being dropped from the

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course. Later in the semester, it is ultimately your responsibility to drop the course if you
no longer wish to be enrolled. The college rarely assigns late withdrawals, so if it is your
desire to receive a “W” rather than an “F” on your transcript, you will need to make sure
you have officially dropped the course prior to the relevant deadline.
In addition to motivation and self-discipline—plus the basic skills needed by a college
student in any course, such as the abilities to read, write, and think critically—to succeed
in this online class requires a few technological essentials. These include having reliable
access to the Internet, as well as a familiarity with using the Web, email, and general
computer literacy. Of course, one of the pitfalls that comes with the rapid pace of today’s
technological development is that unforeseen issues always come up—a new version of a
web browser, say, is no longer compatible, or a new file format is no longer readable by
the software on your computer. As any such issues arise, contact the Tech Support
available within Canvas as soon as possible, so that we can fix the problem or try to find a
work-around.
If you encounter anything that is not clear, not working, or just seems wrong, do not
hesitate to contact me directly. In addition to email, or voice mail, you can also interact
with me directly in real time during my office hours. If you are on campus, please stop by
in person (HSS 385). If not, you can reach me by phone (310.434.8654) as well. Please
direct general questions about the course to the Bulletin Board section of our Canvas
website. By posting your questions to this Bulletin Board, all of your classmates will have
access to the same information, getting answers to questions that they almost certainly
have as well. Of course, if your question only applies to your own situation, then by all
means contact me directly via email or the Canvas Inbox. When contacting me via email,
make sure to include in the subject line, your name (first and last) as well as the course
number (Geography/Urban Studies 8), or otherwise your message might get lost in the
depths of my inbox or spam filter.

Assigned Books
In addition to the materials presented online, you are expected to regularly and carefully
read two books.
(1) the Textbook: David Kaplan, James O. Wheeler, and Steven Holloway, Urban
Geography, 3rd ed. (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2014). This is your main textbook
for the class, and it covers all of the core concepts we will be examining this semester, in a
very clear, readable, and well-illustrated manner. The one drawback with this book—like
so many texts today—is that it is expensive. One option for students on a tight budget who
regularly spend time in the SMC Library on the main campus is to check out the copy that
is available on two-hour reserve. The call number for the reserve copy of the book is
GF125 .K37 2009; it is the slightly older second edition, but it still would be sufficient.
Another option that many of you might find convenient and significantly less expensive
than purchasing a physical hard copy of the book is to rent or purchase it as an eBook.
There are multiple ways to do this; I will share at least some of these via an Announcement
during the first week of the class.

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(2) the Glaeser book: Edward Glaeser, Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention
Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier, and Happier (New York: Penguin Books,
2011). Our second book is readily available as an inexpensive paperback. It is written by a
Harvard economist who grew up in New York and absolutely loves cities. He has strong
but informed and well-reasoned opinions regarding what is best about cities, and what
kind of public policies can make them better. We will discuss and debate these opinions,
applying the ideas and information that we will be sharing from the textbook, the lectures,
and our own observations of living in the urban world.

Grades and Assignments

The course is divided into fourteen weekly units, plus a concluding pair of weeks at the
end of the semester to prepare for and complete the final exam. Each unit includes an
online lecture, which is available as a multi-page illustrated text accompanied by a
printer-friendly set of presentation slides. With the exception of weeks six and twelve,
when the only assignment is a midterm exam, each unit also includes a set of review
questions. In addition, each week you also will be responsible for participating actively in
either an online discussion assignment or, every third week, a set of typewritten Glaeser
questions. While all this might sound confusing, do not worry. It will be clear on our
Canvas website what is due each week. Just know that beginning September 5, something
is due every Tuesday night.
Each of these components mentioned above will be graded separately, and your total
grade for the semester will be determined by a combined grade-point average, weighted as
follows:
• Three Online Exams (40%). At the end of the sixth and twelfth weeks, you will have
online midterm exams. These exams will contain a mix of question types, including
short answer as well as multiple choice. Each midterm exam will count for 10% of
your overall grade and will cover the preceding six weeks of material. At the end of the
semester, you will be given a similar but longer and comprehensive final exam, which
will determine 20% of your overall grade. All three exams will be time-limited, but you
will have a multi-day window in which to complete each of them.
• Weekly Review Questions (15%). Each weekly unit will include a set of review
questions based on that week’s material. These questions will be similar to ones you
will see on the exams, but unlike the exams, you will not be time-limited in
completing the task. Instead, students are encouraged to use the entire week to
thoroughly review the unit’s lecture and reading materials before submitting their final
answers.
• Weekly Discussion Assignments (15%). In addition to the review questions, half of the
weeks will include a group discussion assignment that will ask you to apply concepts
presented in class to real-world examples in cities around the world. You are welcome,
and encouraged, to make multiple contributions to these threaded discussions, which
will be based on assigned readings and/or modest data collection tasks.

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• Glaeser questions (20%). In one of our two assigned books, the economist Edward
Glaeser presents a number of provocative arguments on the good, and the bad, of
cities in our 21st-Century world. Every third week, instead of a group discussion
assignment, you will have due a set of written responses (each set roughly three
typewritten pages) to questions based on a specified pair of chapters from the book.
- Glaeser #1 due September 12 (based on Introduction and chapter 1)
- Glaeser #2 due October 3 (based on chapters 5 and 8)
- Glaeser #3 due October 24 (based on chapters 2 and 4)
- Glaeser #4 due November 14 (based on chapters 6 and 7)
- Glaeser #5 due December 12 (based on chapters 3, 9, and Conclusion)
• Participation (10%). The last part of your grade will be based on an assessment of your
effort throughout the semester. Are you regularly logging into the class? Are you asking
questions via e-mail? Are you using the Bulletin Board to ask and answer questions, or
share “show and tell” items of interest? Are you participating in office hours, either in
person or by phone? You should not feel like you need to do all of the above, but the
more active you are throughout the course, the higher your Participation score will be.
Two final comments. First, late work will not be accepted. As an online learning
community, we will interact with each other on a weekly basis; it thus is important that we
all stay on the same page. While there is a certain amount of self-paced flexibility to
completing the readings and viewing the lecture presentations, the assignments each week
are due on the corresponding Tuesday night (ending at Midnight, Pacific Time). No
exceptions. In order to give yourself a buffer in case unexpected technological problems
arise, it is good practice to submit your work at least 24 hours before the Tuesday deadline.
Recognizing that unforeseen things do happen, I will drop your lowest single scores for
the weekly review questions (i.e., 11 of 12 will count), discussion assignments (6 of 7 will
count), and Glaeser questions (4 of 5 will count).
Second, I do not offer extra credit. The cumulative grade you earn on the components
listed above is the grade you earn for the semester. There is one exception, which is
available to students who reside locally. You can increase your overall grade in the class by
one half-letter grade by completing one of SMC’s “Student Sustainability Workshops” this
semester and then sharing with your classmates a brief summary of something you learned
through the program. For more information about the Workshops, contact SMC’s Center
for Environmental and Urban Studies at (310) 458-8716; you also can try dropping by in
person (1744 Pearl St.), or visiting the program website: www.sustainableworks.org/SMC.

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Schedule of Lecture Topics and Assigned Readings

We will proceed through the schedule below at a pace of one topic per week. The
textbook readings are indicated by chapter number in bold, followed by specific page
ranges within each chapter. Note that the reading schedule is uneven: lighter for some
topics, heavier for others. Manage your time accordingly, and do not be afraid to read
ahead when the current week’s assignment is relatively light. With the exception of the
final exam, all of the deadline dates listed in the final column fall on a Tuesday. Where
indicated, you have a set of Glaeser questions due that day, rather than a weekly online
discussion.

Weekly Units Textbook Readings Deadlines

1 Introductions none September 5

1: all
 September 12

2 What are cities? What is urban?
5: 140 Glaeser #1
Our new urban world: cities and 4: all 6: all

3 September 19
globalization 14: all
Urban morphology: the social geography 5: 117–26

4 September 26
of cities 7: all
Historical context: cities before the October 3

5 2: 25–52
industrial revolution Glaeser #2
Local context: Santa Monica and the October 10

6 none
Southern California metropolis Midterm Exam
National context: the North American
7 3: all October 17
urban system
Industrial revolutions: rise of the modern October 24

8 2: 52–58
city Glaeser #3
Urban planning I: responses to the
9 12: 334–54 October 31
industrial city
The Galactic Metropolis: sprawl of the
10 5: 126–32 8: 214–26 November 7
centrifugal city
Urban planning II: responses to the 5: 132–41
 November 14

11
centrifugal city 12: 345–67 Glaeser #4
The segregated American Dream: 8: 198–214
 November 21

12
migration, diversity, and discrimination 9: 233–62 10: all Midterm Exam
Blight vs. the Slum: urban renewal and
13 8: 226–32 9: 262–68 November 28
community development
Global diversity: 21st-century urbanism 13: all
 December 5

14
around the world 15: all Glaeser #5 (due 12/12)
December 19

15 Review week and Final Exam
Final Exam

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