590 Special Topics Seminar

Instructor: Leta Huntsinger

Instructor: Megan McIntyre and Christopher Samoray

Description: This seminar-based course will provide guidance to master’s students as they begin work on their MP proposals. Students will be exposed to a variety of University resources, learn how to design and write independent research, and receive feedback on their ideas and project proposals. The course will combine visits from guest speakers, lectures, and breakout sessions. Some of the specific topics that will be discussed include: (i) navigating the IRB process; (ii) how to use Odum Institute resources; (iii) writing style for planning research; (iv) project scoping and time management; (v) research methods. Students will have the opportunity to work through potential research ideas as they craft and produce a draft MP proposal. 

Credits: 1.5

Instructor: Sandra Lazo de la Vega

Description: This course partners with the NC-APA’s Education and Outreach Committee to connect students with professional planners. Each week, a different planner will share about their career and the work that they are doing. Students will learn about various planning topics and develop a better understanding of what it looks like to work on them day-to-day.  

Credits: 1.5

Instructor: Mark Shelburne

Description: Students will learn about nearly all aspects of the federal low-income housing tax credit (e.g., rents, costs, pro-formas, equity investment, requirements). The main focus is the developer perspective. Assignments will be based on real-world examples. The concepts are mostly financial, but public policy considerations are inherently connected and will be an integral aspect of the course. 

Credits: 1

Instructor: Dr. Ashley Hernandez

Description: The class will conceive of gentrification as a complex process that changes makeup of neighborhoods and fuels political and policy conflicts. We will look at multiple aspects of gentrification, including re/development of housing, transit, zoning, and commercial elements that have been used to drive it. We will pair these elements with the politics of such development and advocacy/activism efforts. The aim of this course is to provide students with the tools to understand gentrification processes and conceive of policy to ensure more inclusive and equitable cities.

Instructor: Dr. Allie Thomas

Description: This course will look at best practices in international transportation planning, particularly those practices that have made their way to the US (successfully or unsuccessfully). This includes policies as well as brick and mortar projects. Some cases we may look at include street design from the Netherlands, bus rapid transit from South America, and congestion pricing from London. Students will work on a case study highlighting a best practice of their choice and its applicability to the US. In addition, we will have guest speakers from both the private and public sector to learn about the ins and outs of working internationally. We will also take a critical look at what is defined as a best practice through our weekly readings and student-led discussions.

Instructor: Dr. Danielle Spurlock

Description: Public participation and community engagement exist in many forms and are central to the practice of planning, but they still are contested concepts. They remain contentious, in part, because local knowledge and local expertise are contested concepts. The rational planning model and a communicative approach to planning are often presented as being adversarial to one another, which results in exaggerated comparisons. Where the rational planning model’s emphasizes “objective” information produced used technical or scientific methods, communicative approaches to planning embraces nontechnical information and calls for an open accounting of the value systems that underlie practice. Where the rational model (even in is adapted form) promotes a systematic process with clearly defined steps, the communicative approach endorses a more amorphous process of engagement. Finally, where the planner plays the role of expert technician with substantial influence of the planning process, the communicative approach calls for planners to step back and organize participation to address the distortions in communication (Forester, 1989). The division of these theories into binary comparisons misrepresents both approaches through oversimplification. These comparisons suggest inextricable differences when, in fact, these theoretical elements denote substantial weaknesses only when taken to the extreme. Both communicative approaches to planning and rational planning model place a high value of information and its incorporation into planning practices. Problems arise when either technical information or local interests dominates the planning process at the expense of the other.

This course covers the conceptual foundation of public participation and community engagement, the processes and institutions involved in urban planning and design decision-making, and professional skills necessary to conceptualize and implement high quality community engagement activities. It is a hands-on, skill-building course focused project design; and inclusive presentation. In addition to completing readings selected to build theoretical knowledge, students will engage in 1) in-class exercises to expand their facilitation and engagement skills, 2) regular writing assignments to improve the quality of their professional writing; and 3) semester long projects to develop their critical analysis of real-world cases and the acquisition of crucial management skills.

Description: This 1.5 credit hour course will be offered at the beginning and the end of the semester in 5-week sections. The course will give a crash-course introduction to GIS.