Unit Outline

City Lives brings together practical skills in urban analysis and observation to promote critical consideration of the pressing urban issues of our times. In particular, this unit tackles contemporary issues of urban inclusion, exclusion, diversity, and creativity. It interrogates who and what is given ‘place’ in the city and the norms which shape urban governance, encounter, interaction, and resistance. Foregrounding urban social theory focused on race, gender and inequality, City Lives engages with intersecting explanations for the current structure of life in cities and what is needed to promote sociospatial inclusion and liveability into the future. The unit locates theoretical thinking in local and international examples of urban poverty, stigma, disaster, activism and innovation, with a focus on how the communities, identities, and bodies of city dwellers are enabled, disabled, celebrated and erased in cityspace.

City Lives is designed as a collaborative investigation of the social and spatial dynamics of city life. Together we take on new concepts and methodological strategies to peel back the layers of the city as we might ordinarily know it and see it.

In City Lives you will switch on your sociological imagination and take responsibility for producing new, theoretically informed understandings of your local urban spaces. There will be a focus on developing confident, reflexive, and practical capacities for independent research and analysis but in a supported context where peer engagement and exchange will enliven our learning.

City Lives is structured around three learning stages:

Reading the city: Developing a conceptual toolkit to see cities differently

Problematising the city: Becoming urban ethnographers of exclusion

Solving the city: Becoming urban ethnographers of inclusion

We firstly engage in some theoretical reading about the nature of cities and key socio-spatial dynamics of inequality, control, and stigma as well as of belonging, identity and community. Secondly, through engaging with a core tradition of urban ethnography, we develop our capacities as unobtrusive observers of the city. Thirdly, we extend this observational work through also applying what we have learned about strategies of spatial inclusion.

In Week 6 we are extremely fortunate to be able offer a private class excursion with Blak-Led Tours in Hobart, available for all students able to attend: https://www.blackledtours.com/takara-nipaluna/

Intended Learning Outcomes

As per the Assessment and Results Policy 1.3, your results will reflect your achievement against specified learning outcomes.

On completion of this unit, you will be able to:


1	Explain contemporary urban social theory to inform understanding of cities and city dwellers.
2	Utilise observational research methods reflexively to investigate urban social spaces.
3	Analyse observed urban social spaces independently using a theoretically informed approach.
4	Communicate effectively and accurately in written work.

Requisites


REQUISITE TYPE	REQUISITES
Pre-requisite	25 points at introductory level in any discipline in any faculty

Alterations as a result of student feedback

This unit has undergone a major redesign since 2022. This includes new content and new assessment tasks. These changes have been to improve the alignment of unit content with assessment tasks and to integrate applied learning opportunities into the unit at an earlier stage.

How will I be Assessed?

For more detailed assessment information please see MyLO.

Assessment schedule


ASSESSMENT TASK #	ASSESSMENT TASK NAME	DATE DUE	WEIGHT	LINKS TO INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES
Assessment Task 1:	Reading the city	Week 5	20 %	LO1, LO4
Assessment Task 2:	Problematising the city	Week 10	40 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4
Assessment Task 3:	Solving the city	Week 13	40 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4

Assessment details

Assessment Task 1: Reading the city

Task Description:

Through a close reading of one set of weekly texts (from Weeks 2-4), explain and apply David Harvey's reflection on the uneven nature of the ‘right to the city’ (Week 1).

Task Length:

1000 words

Due Date:

Week 5 (23/Aug/2024)

Weight:

20 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Succinctly summarise and explain key theoretical arguments and ideas in set texts	LO1
2	Communicate effectively in academic writing, with appropriate referencing	LO4

Assessment Task 2: Problematising the city

Task Description:

Drawing from close readings of set texts, unobtrusive walking observations and wider sources, identify, describe, and analyse evidence of urban exclusion in your local city space.

Task Length:

1500 words + 1 hr observation time

Due Date:

Week 10 (04/Oct/2024)

Weight:

40 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Utilise unobtrusive walking observation to investigate urban exclusion	LO2
2	Analyse urban exclusion incorporating observational data, theoretical arguments and concepts, and broader literature	LO1, LO3
3	Communicate effectively in academic writing, with appropriate referencing.	LO4

Assessment Task 3: Solving the city

Task Description:

Drawing from close readings of set texts, unobtrusive walking observations and wider sources, identify, describe, and analyse evidence of urban inclusion in your local city space.

Task Length:

1500 words + 1 hr observation time

Due Date:

Week 13 (25/Oct/2024)

Weight:

40 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Utilise unobtrusive walking observation to investigate urban inclusion	LO2
2	Analyse urban inclusion incorporating observational data, theoretical arguments and concepts, and broader literature	LO1, LO3
3	Communicate effectively in academic writing, with appropriate referencing	LO4

How your final result is determined

To pass this unit, you need to demonstrate your attainment of each of the Intended Learning Outcomes, achieve a final unit grade of 50% or greater, and pass any hurdle tasks.

Submission of assignments

Where practicable, assignments should be submitted to an assignment submission folder in MYLO. You must submit assignments by the due date or receive a penalty (unless an extension of time has been approved by the Unit Coordinator). Students submitting any assignment in hard copy, or because of a practicum finalisation, must attach a student cover sheet and signed declaration for the submission to be accepted for marking.

Academic integrity

Academic integrity is about acting responsibly, honestly, ethically, and collegially when using, producing, and communicating information with other students and staff members.

In written work, you must correctly reference the work of others to maintain academic integrity. To find out the referencing style for this unit, see the assessment information in the MyLO site, or contact your teaching staff. For more detail about Academic Integrity, see Important Guidelines & Support.

Requests for extensions

If you are unable to submit an assessment task by the due date, you should apply for an extension.

A request for an extension should first be discussed with your Unit Coordinator or teaching support team where possible. A request for an extension must be submitted by the assessment due date, except where you can provide evidence it was not possible to do so. Typically, an application for an extension will be supported by documentary evidence: however, where it is not possible for you to provide evidence please contact your Unit Coordinator.

The Unit Coordinator must notify you of the outcome of an extension request within 3 working days of receiving the request.

Late penalties

Assignments submitted after the deadline will receive a late penalty of 5% of the original available mark for each calendar day (or part day) that the assignment is late. Late submissions will not be accepted more than 10 calendar days after the due date, or after assignments have been returned to other students on a scheduled date, whichever occurs first. Further information on Late Penalties can be found on the Assessments and Results Procedure.

Review of results and appeals

You are entitled to ask for a review of the marking and grading of your assessment task if there is an irregularity in the marking standards or an error in the process for determining the outcome of an assessment. Details on how to request a review of a mark for an assignment are outlined in the Review and Appeal of Academic Decisions Procedure.

Required Resources

Required reading materials

There are no required textbooks for this unit. Essential and recommended readings will be set each week and will be available via quick links in the weekly MyLO content and through a Reading List for the unit. Questions to help guide your critical engagement with essential readings will also be set each week.

It is expected that you have thoroughly engaged with weekly essential readings prior to undertaking Thinking-Doing Tasks and attending weekly workshops/tutorials.

Reading Lists provide direct access to all material on unit reading lists in one place. This includes eReadings and items in Reserve. You can access the Reading List for this unit from the link in MyLO, or by going to the Reading Lists page on the University Library website.