Urban Imaginaries: Reading Cities From Across the Globe

The course offers an introduction to urban studies through a discussion of key texts as well as a look at cultural representations of cities from the Western world, the Global South and East-Central Europe. The majority of the course focuses on literary and visual (film, photography, etc.) engagements with three global cities, each of which is representative of its respective location: London, Johannesburg and Budapest. Before getting acquainted with representations of the cities, students will also have the chance to familiarize themselves with fundamental topics in urban studies, such as the difference between planning a city space and actually living in it or the various manifestations of spatial injustice within cities.

Course leader

ELTE Faculty of Humanities, School of English and American Studies

Target group

The course is open to all who are currently studying or graduated in the humanities or social sciences, and also to anyone interested in urban studies.

Course aim

Through the readings and films, students will gain insight into how cities retain their turbulent histories and bear traces of their often violent pasts. They will also be able to grasp the interrelatedness of cultural memory manifested in urban spaces and the textual representation of certain sites of memory.