Walk down Franklin Street or into any Wal-Mart store and you will enter into the international economy of the 21st century. These days it is hard to go far without encountering someone or something that is part of a global network of production, trade, and consumption. This seminar examines how globalization impacts economic, political, social and spatial structures of regional and local landscapes.
This year we will examine the most vivid symbol of globalization—the Covid-19 pandemic that has swept around the globe and turned life on its head, virtually halting the world as we knew it, in its tracks. Through contemporary writing, news, film, documentaries, readings and popular accounts (blogs) we will examine how the pandemic has impacted cities across a number of dimensions: food security, health, transportation, the economy, housing (especially for the poor and the homeless), inequity, vulnerability and human dignity. Together, through blogs, cases and projects we will examine what pathways to resilient post-pandemic recoveries look like, for cities and our communities.