LEARNING PLACES: UNDERSTANDING THE CITY

Tu / Th 2:30-4:35PM N619 *This course meets fully in person

1 classroom hour, 4 lab/studio hours, 3 credits

Prof. Nora Almeida

Contact: nalmeida@citytech.cuny.edu

Office Hours: TH 1:30-2:30PM In Person L543C / W 3-4PM on Zoom (link in Blackboard)

Course Description: This special topics course offers an interdisciplinary approach to investigating our built environment using a case study focused on a specific place each semester. This course combines physical examination with information research and data collection using methodologies developed in multiple disciplines. Students from a variety of departments engage in on-site exploration and in-depth research of a location in New York City. In this section of the course, students will explore several sites along the waterfront in south Brooklyn and examine issues related to ecology, urban planning, and social justice. 

Course context: This special topics course is an Interdisciplinary Liberal Arts and Sciences Course that applies toward the BTech/BS General Education Common Core College Option requirements. Prerequisites: ENG 1101 and any Flexible Core Course

Required Supplies: notebook, pens, pencils for sketching and taking notes, digital camera or smartphone. This course uses ZTC (Zero Cost Textbook) materials. Instead of buying books, students will use open or freely available materials, including library licensed online resources, which will be made available through OpenLab.

OpenLab site: https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/groups/lib-arch2205id-almeida-sp21/ 

Land Acknowledgement: New York City is built on unceded land of the Lenape people–past, present, and future. The New York City College of Technology is among the thousands of institutions and businesses in this city that were founded upon exclusions and erasures of indigenous people, including the Lenape who were displaced from this land. This acknowledgement demonstrates a commitment to beginning the process of working to dismantle the legacies of settler colonialism. During this course we will learn about, critically examine, and intervene in the conditions in which colonial politics and capital industry have thrived. (adapted from statement: http://landacknowledgements.org/)   

Course Structure: This course combines a series of seminars with fieldwork, site visits, and on and off campus research. Combinations of individual and group assignments as well as class participation are the basis for the final grade. The culmination of the weekly assignments is a collaborative research project that takes the form of a podcast or public performance. 

Grading: Final grade will be determined according to the breakdown below. All assignments, due dates, and rubrics will be reviewed and discussed in class. 

10% Participation

10% Reading Reflection Quizzes

45% Site Documentation Reports (3)   

5% Final Project: Proposal

10% Final Project: Annotated Bibliography

10% Final Project: Public Performance or Spatial Intervention

5% Final Project: OpenLab Project Site     

5% Final Project: In-Class Presentation 

Course Policies

Participation: Every class matters, every person in this class matters, and every discussion matters. This course relies on your participation in class discussions, research activities, presentations, group projects, and field visits. Therefore, you should plan on attending every class meeting, arriving on time, and participating fully. Missed class time will impact your citizenship grade and grades on activities and assignments that require you to be present and participate. 

COVID: Here are CUNY Policies related to COVID, vaccines, testing, and isolating if you or someone you live with or have been in close contact with tests positive for COVID19. This information will be updated if CUNY policies change. If you need to miss class because you have COVID and didn’t get tested at a CUNY testing site, you should report a positive COVID case using this form. 

I will provide opportunities for students to make up missed work and / or provide remote options for in class work as needed. If you have COVID or are isolating because you’ve been exposed to COVID, you don’t have to share personal health information with me. Just let me know that you can’t attend class, when you think you’ll be able to return, and that you need a remote or make up option for missed work.    

Academic Integrity: Students and all others who work with information, ideas, texts, images, music, inventions and other intellectual property owe their audience and sources accuracy and honesty in using, crediting, and citing sources. As a community of intellectual and professional workers, the college recognizes its responsibility for providing instruction in information literacy and academic integrity, offering models of good practice, and responding vigilantly and appropriately to infractions of academic integrity. Accordingly, academic dishonesty is prohibited in The City University of New York and is punishable by penalties, including failing grades, suspension and expulsion.

Accessibility: I will do my very best to make content accessible and engaging to all students regardless of learning style or ability. City Tech is committed to supporting the educational goals of students with disabilities in the areas of enrollment, academic advisement, tutoring, assistive technologies and testing accommodations. If you have or think you may have a disability or if you are ill, you may be eligible for reasonable accommodations or academic adjustments. You may also request services for temporary conditions or medical issues under certain circumstances. If you have questions about your eligibility or would like to seek accommodation services or academic adjustments, please contact the Center for Student Accessibility http://www.citytech.cuny.edu/accessibility