The Cities Seminar meets monthly during the academic year, and features a combination of guest speakers and focused group readings and discussions on a rich variety of urban topics.

The seminar has two main aims: to identify and think through the implications of new (or newly recognized) urban forms in the era of globalization, and to address new concepts and paradigms in urban theory. 

• How are cities - and city life - changing in response to developments such as globalization, transnational migration, new media culture, and environmental engineering?

• How does cultural production - ranging from literature and the visual arts to architecture and design - inform or contribute to those changes? What value do critical concepts such as the cosmopolitan, the global, the exurban, and the postmetropolitan have in current debates about cities?

• What new concepts and categories do we need to address emergent urban scenes and new formations of urban identity?

Engaging with such questions, the Cities Seminar aims to stimulate open discussion, exchange, and debate on key urban topics within the humanities and beyond.

Participation

Participation in the seminar is open to all members of ASCA and registered guests (Research MAs, urban practitioners, city-image makers, etc). Registration is by email to the organizer: Christoph Lindner (c.p.lindner@uva.nl)

2011-2012 Seminar: New Urban Aesthetics

• Sept 16: "Cities, Film, and China", Prof. Stephanie Hemelryk Donald (KNAW Visiting Fellow and Dean of Media and Communication, RMIT, Australia). Location: Potgieterzaal (University Library, Singel 425), Time: 3-6pm.

• Oct 14: "City Affect, Mobility, and Creativity", focused reading/discussion led by Prof. Christoph Lindner (ASCA). Location: BG 5 (Binnengasthuis, Binnengasthuisstraat 9), Time: 3-6pm. 

• Nov 18: "Peripheral Vision and the City: Staring at the Suburbs and Glancing at the Centre", Prof. Hugh Campbell (School of Architecture, University College Dublin). Location: Potgieterzaal (University Library, Singel 425), Time: 3-6pm.

• Dec 9: "PhD Research Forum", Location: Potgieterzaal (University Library, Singel 425), Time: 3-6pm.

• The seminar dates for semester 2 are: Feb 17, March 16, April 20, and May 18. 

2010-2011 Seminar: New Directions in Urbanism

• Sept 17: "Rethinking the Urban", Prof. Gary Bridge (Centre for Urban Studies, Bristol University, UK). Location: Belle van Zuylenzaal (University Library, Singel 425), Time: 3-6pm. 

• Oct 15: "Other Cities, Other Worlds", focused reading/discussion led by Prof. Christoph Lindner (ASCA). Location: Vondelzaal (University Library, Singel 425), Time: 3-6pm.

• Nov 18-19: "Paris-Amsterdam Underground" workshop. Details available on the conference page of this website. Location: Doelenzaal (University Library, Singel 425)

• Dec 10: "Utopia and Critical Urban Theory", Dr. David Pinder (School of Geography, Queen Mary, University of London, UK). Location: Belle van Zuylenzaal (University Library, Singel 425), Time: 3-6pm.

• Feb 18: "Smartcities+Eco-warriors", Prof. CJ Lim (University College London). Location: Belle van Zuylenzaal (University Library, Singel 425), Time: 3-6pm. 

• March 18: "Politics of Hüzün: Orhan Pamuk's Urban Imaginary", Esra Almas (University of Amsterdam) and "Visions of the International Airport as a Public Space", Anna Nikolaeva (Aarhus University). Location: Belle van Zuylenzaal (University Library, Singel 425), Time: 3-6pm. 

• April 15: "Actor-Network Theory and Urban Studies", focused reading and discussion. Location: Belle van Zuylenzaal (University Library, Singel 425), Time: 3-6pm. 

• May 13: "Factories and Slaughterhouses. Creativity and the Asian City", Dr. Jeroen de Kloet (University of Amsterdam). Location: Belle van Zuylenzaal (University Library, Singel 425), Time: 3-6pm.