City-As-Text

City-As-Text (Individual Assignment) Due April 05, 2020, 11:59 p.m.

OBJECTIVE: City-As-Text is based on the concept of ‘experiential learning’ or ‘active learning’. For this assignment you will “read” the cities you visited as you would read a literary text, trying to discern the city’s organizational patterns, its styles, its characters, its themes, and its underlying meanings. I want you to discover the cities as if you were an anthropologist visiting a foreign land (that is, not just as a tourist, but as a scholar who desires to learn about this land). The explorations of sites and companies in London, England and Paris, France will give you a chance to discover various aspects of the cities’ culture and to do your own hands-on research into the behaviors, values, and commerce of the people who populate it. EXPLORATION: The group will work as a unit – mapping, observing, listening and taking notes (see below for details). You are encouraged to share notes and insights as you go along. The strategies you will use in your explorations include: mapping, observing, and listening.

1. Mapping: Take note of the primary kinds of buildings, points of interest, centers of

activities, and transportation routes (by foot or vehicle). You will want to look for patterns of housing, “traffic” flow, and social activity that might not be apparent on any traditional “map”. Where do people go, how do they get there, and what do they do when they get there?

2. Observation:

Look carefully for the unexpected as well as the expected, for the familiar as well as the new. You will want to notice details of architecture, landscaping, social gathering, clothing, possessions, decoration, signage, and advertising.

3. Listening:

Talk to as many people as you can find and find out from them what is important in their daily lives, what they need, what they enjoy, what bothers them, what they appreciate. Strike up conversations everywhere you go. Ask about such matters as: how expensive it is to live there (dropping by a real estate agency could be enlightening), where to find a cheap meal (or a good one or an expensive one), what the local politics are (try to find a local newspaper), what the history of the place is, what the population is like (age, race, class, profession, etc.), what people do to have a good time. In other words, imagine that you are moving to that location; try to find out everything you would need to learn to survive there.

GENERAL DIRECTIONS: During your explorations, keep in mind that the people you meet, the buildings in which they live and work, the forms of their recreation, their modes of transportation – everything that they are and do – are important components of the environment. They are part of the ecological niche. You want to discover their particular roles in this ecology: how they use it, contribute to it,

damage it, and change it. You want to discover not only how, but also why they do what they do. Don’t settle for easy answers. Don’t assume you know the answers without doing serious research. Like all good researchers, make sure you are conscious of your own biases and that you investigate them as thoroughly as you investigate the culture you are studying. GRADING: Grades will be based the Individual Report. The Individual Report, which should be 8-10 pages in length, should do the following:

1. Describe your preconceptions about the cultures and countries you visited 2. Report the findings from your exploration. Your report should answer the

following:

a. What did you learn on the cultural visits? Include a discussion on:

• The areas (i.e. subdivisions of the city, etc.) you observed/visited.

• When and how you did so. • With whom you spoke. • What you learned about the people who

live/work/study/were visiting in the areas you observed. b. What did you learn from the company visits?

c. Did your findings support or contradict your preconceptions? How so?

d. How you will be able to use what you have learned on your visit to advance your career