2024 Faculty Courses Liberal arts and basic science courses Humanities and social science courses
Special Lecture: Urban Space in Literature and Cinema
- Academic unit or major
- Humanities and social science courses
- Instructor(s)
- Kumiko Kiuchi
- Class Format
- Lecture (Face-to-face)
- Media-enhanced courses
- -
- Day of week/Period
(Classrooms) - 3-4 Mon
- Class
- -
- Course Code
- LAH.H312
- Number of credits
- 100
- Course offered
- 2024
- Offered quarter
- 2Q
- Syllabus updated
- Mar 14, 2025
- Language
- English
Syllabus
Course overview and goals
This lecture discusses various aspects of city culture in the context of modernisation. "City" here means not only an architectural structure in and of urban space but the entity of its relationships with human activities, and how these relationships are represented. The class consists of mini lectures by the tutor and students' discussion and group presentations. In view of "city as text" the course introduces cultural, media and linguistic theories and analyses art works pertaining to urban space. At the end of the course, students will give a presentation about a film or a literary text of their choice.
Course description and aims
(0) To experience the pleasure of noticing elements surrounding your everyday life in urban space
(1) To understand the functions and meaning of the elements
(2) To familiarize yourself with the theoretical discourse related to (1)
(3) To acquire knowledge of the history, society and culture of different cities by looking at art works (literature, photography, film etc.)
(4) To understand some theoretical concepts to address the questions of "angles" and "subjectivity" adopted in art works.
Keywords
Urban space, City, Modernisation, Literature, Cinema, Photography, Architecture, Everyday life, Media, Group work
Competencies
- Specialist skills
- Intercultural skills
- Communication skills
- Critical thinking skills
- Practical and/or problem-solving skills
Class flow
Mini-lecture by the tutor on a literary text and/or an audiovisual artwork which is followed by group discussions.
Course schedule/Objectives
| Course schedule | Objectives | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 1 | Introduction to the course | Students understand the overall idea of the course. |
| Class 2 | Experience of modernity in urban space | Students understand the content of the course. |
| Class 3 | Ordinary and the extraordinary: Walking as poiesis | Students understand the content of the course. |
| Class 4 | Memory and narration in urban space | Students understand the content of the course. |
| Class 5 | Other-than-human: Non-human approach to urban space | Students understand the content of the course. |
| Class 6 | Review of the course, a week for film-making/preparation for the presentation | Students understand the content of the course. |
| Class 7 | Screening/presentation session | Students give presentation and receive feedback from other groups. |
Study advice (preparation and review)
To enhance effective learning, students are encouraged to spend approximately 100 minutes preparing for class and another 100 minutes reviewing class content afterwards (including assignments) for each class.
They should do so by referring to textbooks and other course material.
Textbook(s)
Handouts are distributed via T2Schola.
Reference books, course materials, etc.
More details are provided in class.
Evaluation methods and criteria
Contributions to group discussion: 30%
Google Forms: 30%
Presentation or film-making+final report: 40%
Related courses
- LAH.H313 ： Special Lecture: Urban Space for the Future
Prerequisites
Intermediate communication skills in English
Other
Content of the course and the class style are subject to change depending on the number of students and their interests.