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SSHIS-2000-1: Mobility and Urban Environments

Summer 2024

Subject: Social Science and History
Type: Seminar
Delivery Mode: Online
Level: Undergraduate

Course Dates: May 13, 2024 — June 12, 2024
Meetings: Mon/Wed/Thu 5:30-08:30PM
Instructor: Melissa Cefkin

Units: 3.0
Enrolled: 10/18

Description:

Mobility is fundamental to the human experience. From the emergence of bi-pedialism to the advent of pilotless personal air taxis, moving through time and space has been inseparable from existing as humans on Earth.  In this seminar, students will interrogate the assumptions and perspectives about the social world and human interactions designed into *intelligent* mobile technologies that co-inhabit urban settings, with a particular focus on autonomous vehicles designed for the transportation of people and goods.  Students will engage in projects in order to stimulate their thinking about the relationship between social theories of mobility and urban public spaces. Class discussion will be grounded in classic or foundational writings about urban mobility addressing such topics as the public realm and public space, streetscapes, vehicular form and uses, crowds, stranger interactions, surveillance, and civility. Through course material and their own projects, students will become more aware of the social and cultural assumptions built into mobility vehicles and urban built environments.Social Science and History (SSHIS) courses develop students' critical thinking skills through the study of history and the social sciences (e.g. sociology, psychology, economics, political science, anthropology, geography), as well as through contemporary interdisciplines that draw heavily on these fields (e.g. feminist and queer studies, media studies, urban studies, ethnic studies). Subject matter in these courses contributes to students' cultural literacy while instructional materials and classroom assignments introduce basic research problems and techniques.

Pre-Requisites and Co-Requisites:

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