SOC195 Cities and Social Changes

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2009
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 6 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
doc. Mgr. Slavomíra Ferenčuhová, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. PhDr. Ing. Radim Marada, Ph.D.
Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Ing. Soňa Enenkelová
Timetable
Mon 18:00–19:30 U35
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 40 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/40, only registered: 0/40
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 10 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
It has been argued that the social changes of the last centuries have had considerable effects on life or shapes of cities and also that the city represents the environment where ongoing social transformations are best visible (Savage et al. 2003). This course explains the interconnections between economic and technological changes and the growth of modern cities, the evolution of the relation between states and cities during the 20th century and the influences of political changes on cities and their development. The last lessons are focused on everyday life in the contemporary western cities.
Students will learn how to use the selected sociological concepts in the specific field of urban studies. One part of the assigned readings pays attention to the situation of cities in Central and Eastern Europe. By focusing the readings partly on a familiar context, the course aims to lead the students to formulation of their own questions regarding the places where they live.
Syllabus
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. City and industrialization in Europe
  • 3. Urbanization in US
  • 4. Cities in 'post-industrialism'
  • 5. Globalization and 'global city'
  • 6. Cities in modern European states
  • 7. Cities and nation states in 20th century
  • 8. 'Socialist city'
  • 9. 'Postsocialist city'
  • 10. 'Local governance' at the beginning of the 21st century
  • 11. Everyday life
  • 12. Urban landscapes
Literature
  • The urban sociology reader. Edited by Jan Lin - Christopher Mele. London: Routledge, 2005, ix, 363. ISBN 0415323436. info
  • SAVAGE, Mike, Alan WARDE and Kevin WARD. Urban sociology, capitalism and modernity. 2nd ed. Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2003, xi, 242 s. ISBN 0-333-97160-4. info
  • LE GALÈS, Patrick. European cities : social conflicts and governance. 1st publ. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002, vii, 328. ISBN 0199252785. info
  • HORSKÁ, Pavla, Jiří MUSIL and Eduard MAUR. Zrod velkoměsta : urbanizace českých zemí a Evropa. Vyd. 1. Praha: Paseka, 2002, 352 s. ISBN 8071854093. info
  • Cities after socialism : urban and regional change and conflict in post-socialist societies. Edited by Gregory Andrusz - Michael Harloe - Iván Szelényi. 1st pub. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1996, xii, 340 s. ISBN 1-55786-165-X. info
  • PARK, Robert Ezra, Ernest Watson BURGESS and Roderick D. MCKENZIE. The city. 2nd impres. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1926, xi, 239. info
Assessment methods
The course combines a lecture and a seminar in every session. During the seminar part, students focus on discussing and interpreting the assigned readings. Students prepare a short written annotation of the readings before every class and a final essay that will be marked A-F.
Language of instruction
Czech
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2010, Spring 2011, Spring 2012.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2009, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fss/spring2009/SOC195