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Current Course Offerings

Current Course Offerings
2020-2021 Fall/Winter Courses
Below are Urban Studies courses offered in the 2020-2021 Fall/Winter Session.
For more details about current course offerings, please see the Faculty of Arts & Science Timetable (Urban Studies courses are listed under “Innis College”).
For a list of all Urban Studies course offerings (including courses that are not currently offered) please see the Faculty of Arts & Science Calendar.
INI234H1 – Cities in Popular Culture
Hours: 24L
By exploring different popular culture phenomena such as the emergence of hiphop in the Bronx, Batman’s Gotham, and Nollywood, this course works to examine the contributions of popular culture in shaping our understandings of cities (as well as providing different perspectives of the city and the urban experience than is generally captured in scholarly/academic literature). Popular culture becomes a vehicle by which we will explore different aspects of urban life and urban representation.
Prerequisite: 4.0 FCEs
Distribution Requirements: Social Science
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
INI235H1 – A Multidisciplinary Introduction to Urban Studies I: Theoretical Foundations of City Building
Previous Course Number: INI235Y1
Hours: 24L
Focuses on the theoretical foundations of urbanization, urban change, and city building, with particular attention on global urban growth, history of contemporary urbanization, urban planning, governance, built form, and economic development. These topics are explored through a multidisciplinary lens, with an emphasis on understanding urban transitions over time and their meaning for contemporary urban experience.
Prerequisite: Four courses with at least one of the following: ECO100Y1/? ECO105Y1 or 1.0 FCE from 100-level GGR courses including GGR101H1, GGR107H1, GGR112H1 and GGR124H1, or 1.0 FCE from 100-level POL courses including POL101Y1, or POL214Y1, or 1.0 FCE from 100-level SOC courses including SOC101Y1, SOC102H1, and SOC103H1
Exclusion: INI235Y1
Distribution Requirements: Social Science
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
INI236H1 – A Multidisciplinary Introduction to Urban Studies II: Urban Challenges and Theoretical Application
Previous Course Number: INI235Y1
Hours: 24L
Cities are centres of innovation and creative energy, but they also face significant and pressing challenges. This course explores various urban issues including inequality, eroding infrastructure, and concerns arising from globalization, while also examining the ways in which municipal governments and urban citizens are imagining and implementing potential solutions to these challenges.
Prerequisite: INI235H1
Exclusion: INI235Y1
Distribution Requirements: Social Science
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
INI333H1 – Critical Approaches in Urban Studies
Subtitle: Social Justice In The City
Hours: 24L
How do power and dominance consolidate in urban settings? How do individuals and communities contest this consolidation, and claim spaces and rights in the city? These questions will be taken up through a range of critical approaches, including Indigenous, critical race feminist, political economy, queer, and anarchist perspectives. Students will have the opportunity to carry out interview-based research on an issue of equality and social justice that matters to them.
Prerequisite: INI235H1 and INI236H1
Recommended Preparation: None
Distribution Requirements: Social Science
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
INI336H1 – Creative Cities
Previous Course Number: INI336Y1
Hours: 24L
A prominent thesis in the fields of planning and economic geography is that the presence of creative occupations in a city correlates positively with the overall health of urban regions. This course will investigate the nature of this link from theoretical and empirical perspectives and examine its potential usefulness in a planning/policy context.
Prerequisite: 1.0 FCE from: GGR101H1/? GGR107H1/? GGR112H1/? GGR124H1; INI235H1, INI236H1
Exclusion: INI336Y1
Recommended Preparation: GGR220Y1
Distribution Requirements: Social Science
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
INI337H1 – Studies in Contemporary Urban Problems
Subtitle: Housing & Homelessness
Hours: 24L
This course will focus on an examination of the immediate difficulties facing Toronto and by extension all Canadian cities. Instruction will consist of a combination of lectures by the instructor and by noted experts/practitioners in a range of topic areas including urban governance, finance, planning, environmental sustainability and social welfare.
Recommended Preparation: GGR124H1/?( INI235H1, INI236H1)
Distribution Requirements: Social Science
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
INI339H1 – Divided City / United City
Hours: 24L
Focus on the impact of increased economic inequality and economic polarization trends that are reshaping Canada’s metropolitan areas, changing neighbourhoods, and affecting the lives of our diverse urban population. Using the Toronto area as an example, students explore the consequences of these trends and the implications for public policy.
Prerequisite: A minimum of 8.0 FCEs
Distribution Requirements: Humanities; Social Science
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
INI342H1 – Urban Studies Research Seminar I
Subtitle: Qualitative Research for Urban Studies
Hours: 24S
This course provides students an opportunity to craft and initiate an Urban Studies capstone research project. Students will gain knowledge, experience and insight in utilizing qualitative research methods including interviewing, focus groups, observational analysis and other techniques. Seminars and assignments focus on the application of qualitative methods to each student’s selected urban research question.
Prerequisite: INI235H1
Distribution Requirements: Social Science
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
INI432H1 – Special Topics in Urban Studies
Subtitle: TBA
Hours: TBA
Special topics courses are offered periodically for senior students in the Urban Studies Program. Offerings in any given year will depend on program priorities, availability of specialized expertise and funding. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.
Prerequisite: Enrolment in a major or specialist program in Urban Studies.
Recommended Preparation: INI235H1 and INI236H1, completion of research design and research methods courses, 14 FCEs in an aligned social science program.
Distribution Requirements: Social Science
INI434Y1 – Independent Research in Urban Studies
Hours: TBA
Designed to allow strong students in the Major and Specialist programs to extend a piece of urban research under the supervision of a faculty member from any aligned department. Choice of ‘H’ or ‘Y’ session pursuant to the scope of the research envisioned, the proposed supervisor’s assessment of depth of the inquiry, and the approval of the program director. Proposals, including a letter from an agreeable supervisor should be submitted to the program director by June 1 for a Fall or Year session course and by November 1 for a Spring session course. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.
Prerequisite: INI235H1, INI236H1, completion of research design and research methods courses, 14 FCEs in an aligned social science program. Enrolment in the Urban Studies Major or Specialist programs.
Distribution Requirements: Social Science
INI435H1 – Independent Research in Urban Studies
Hours: TBA
Designed to allow strong students in the Major and Specialist programs to extend a piece of urban research under the supervision of a faculty member from any aligned department. Choice of ‘H’ or ‘Y’ session pursuant to the scope of the research envisioned, the proposed supervisor’s assessment of depth of the inquiry, and the approval of the program director. Proposals, including a letter from an agreeable supervisor should be submitted to the program director by June 1 for a Fall or Year session course and by November 1 for a Spring session course. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.
Prerequisite: INI235H1, INI236H1, completion of research design and research methods courses, 14 FCEs in an aligned social science program. Enrolment in the Urban Studies Major or Specialist programs.
Distribution Requirements: Social Science
INI436H1 – Independent Research in Urban Studies
Hours: TBA
Designed to allow strong students in the Major and Specialist programs to extend a piece of urban research under the supervision of a faculty member from any aligned department. Choice of ‘H’ or ‘Y’ session pursuant to the scope of the research envisioned, the proposed supervisor’s assessment of depth of the inquiry, and the approval of the program director. Proposals, including a letter from an agreeable supervisor should be submitted to the program director by June 1 for a Fall or Year session course and by November 1 for a Spring session course. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.
Prerequisite: INI235H1, INI236H1, completion of research design and research methods courses, 14 FCEs in an aligned social science program. Enrolment in the Urban Studies Major or Specialist programs.
Distribution Requirements: Social Science
INI437Y1 – Urban Experiential Learning in Toronto & the GTA
Previous Course Number: INI306Y1
Hours: 72S
A method of studying city issues that combines readings, seminar discussions, and field trips with an 8 hour / week internship in the office of a municipal politician, local government, or non-profit organization. Readings focus on community development, urban planning, economic development and local governance. Students must fill out a ballot for the course (available by contacting the Urban Studies Program Office) by June 1st. Enrolment in this course is competitive and at the discretion of the Urban Studies Director and/or course instructor.
Prerequisite: INI235H1, INI236H1. Priority is given to students enrolled in the Urban Studies Minor, Major, or Specialist Programs. However, consideration may be given to students with suitable course background as determined by the Program Director. Note: INI437Y1 cannot be taken concurrently with JGI450Y1.
Exclusion: INI306Y1
Distribution Requirements: Social Science
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
INI439H1 – Cities and Mega-events: Place-making, Contestation and Urban Citizenship
Hours: 24S
Mega-events, like the Olympics, give cities the opportunity to showcase themselves to the world, but the production of television-friendly urban images do much to obscure the processes, compromises and social consequences in host cities. These events are powerful tools for city branding. They are also potential opportunities for social movements and other groups and individuals to highlight their own sets of concerns. This course will explore the challenges and opportunities that cities face in hosting such events.
Prerequisite: 12.0 FCEs
Exclusion: INI430H1 (topic of same name in 2013-14), INI332H1, INI432H1 (2016)
Distribution Requirements: Social Science
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
JGI216H1 – Globalization and Urban Change
Hours: 24L
Focusing on the impacts that global flows of ideas, culture, people, goods, and capital have on cities throughout the globe, this course explores some of the factors that differentiate the experiences of globalization and urban change in cities at different moments in history and in various geographic locations.
Recommended Preparation: GGR124H1
Distribution Requirements: Social Science
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
JGI346H1 – The Urban Planning Process
Hours: 24L
Overview of how planning tools and practice shape the built form of cities. This course introduces twentieth century physical planning within its historical, social, legal, and political contexts. Community and urban design issues are addressed at local and regional scales and in both central cities and suburbs. The focus is on Toronto and the Canadian experience, with comparative examples from other countries, primarily the United States. Transportation costs: $20.
Exclusion: GGR361H5
Recommended Preparation: 8.0 FCE’s including GGR124H1, INI235H1, INI236H1
Distribution Requirements: Social Science
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
2020 Summer Courses (Past)
Below are courses which were offered in the 2020 Summer Session (for reference only). Courses offered in the 2021 Summer Session may differ.
*NEW* INI337H1F Studies in Contemporary Urban Problems: Cities and Health
Instructor: David Roberts
As we experience the reconfiguration of life as a result of the COVID-19 global pandemic, understanding the connections between health and urban life is as important as ever. Through an interactive seminar format, this course will take a critical interdisciplinary approach to examining the intimate connections between urbanization and health.
The course will be offered online in the first summer sub-session (May to June) using the Zoom video conferencing software (free to download) and will require students to have access to a webcam.
Recommended Preparation: GGR124H1/(INI235H1, INI236H1)
Distribution Requirement: Social Science
Breadth Requirement: Society and its Institutions (3)
INI432H1F Urban Studio: Public Participation in Policy Making
Instructor: Daniel Fusca
This studio course is designed around a client-based project which will prompt students to examine a broad range of theoretical frameworks and case studies from Toronto and other cities. By delving into topics related to city planning, students will discover ways in which meaningful public participation and consultation can be invaluable to city projects, while also examining the many challenges facing public participation practitioners today.
The objectives of the course are to provide students with a practical understanding of all of the elements of an effective public participation process, and to explore how public participation processes can be designed to be more inclusive and beneficial to community projects. The course will be offered in the first summer sub-session from May to June.
Prerequisite: Enrolment in a major or specialist program in Urban Studies.
Recommended Preparation: INI235H1 and INI236H1, completion of research design and research methods courses, 14 FCEs in an aligned social science program.
Distribution Requirement: Social Science
For more information on INI337H1 and INI432H1, search the course by its course code in the Summer 2020 Timetable.