Global Urban History

This graduate readings course considers the work of historians working at the crossroads of urban history and global history, with particular attention to the role of the urban setting as both product and producer of social and spatial relations of power locally and globally. Our primary aim will be to examine the variety of geographical scopes and theoretical inspirations that guide the recent subfield of 'global urban history.' Students will also grapple with the unique set of research challenges that these historians face, including utilizing hyper-local archives to evince larger-scale and the difficulty of engaging with a variety of historiographies on colonialism, globalization, network societies, urban systems, and global cities.