UCIS Central Calendar

Due to economic development and globalization, cities continue to grow with predictions that 70% of the world’s population will live in urban areas by the year 2050. This course, then, will view cities as hubs where patterns, connections, discussions, and the processes shape such issues as social justice, economic development, technology, migration, the environment among others. By examining cities as a lens, this sequence of weekend courses encourages students to examine cities as a system for discussing social processes being built and rebuilt. With an interdisciplinary focus, the course invites experts from the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon, and relevant fields more broadly. Course Topics: Global cities (Sp. 2019): This offering of the course will address the concept of global cities, including their distinctive cosmopolitan characteristics by exploring emergent edge cities, global cities of the past, and their relationship to other critical social issues. This offering will provide a broader overview by conceptualizing the issues of global cities, including questions of scale, the challenges of pluralism, and sustainability. It will offer a brief introduction to the future issues discussed in later iterations of the course. Smart cities and technology (Sp. 2020): This iteration of the course will explore such topics as: the influence of multinational corporations on cities; the rise of privacy issues in relation to adoption of technology within cities and homes; the replacement of human labor and access to employment; the role of technology on urban planning, among others. Cities and social justice (Sp. 2021): This iteration of the course will explore such topics as: the rapid growth of cities and their impact on fair housing, gentrification, and poverty; the role of human rights cities as models; the role of migration on cities; the role of governance addressing inequality; the need to have access to health care; among others. Cities and sustainability (Sp. 2022): This iteration of the course will explore such topics as: the role cities can have on climate change, low-emission growth and clean energy; the importance of access to resources; the need for sustainable transportation; the practices of sustainable consumption; among others. For more information and to register: https://www.ucis.pitt.edu/global/mini-course/transforming-cities