The Georgetown University Summer Institute in Urban Studies is an all-inclusive, on-campus summer program designed to provide currently matriculated Georgetown undergraduate students with an elite-level academic experience while offering a packaged price.
Course Schedule
Urban Studies/Core Courses
Students will select 3 of these 5 courses:
ANTH 2280: Urban Anthropology (3 credits)
Prof. Laurie King
Core requirements fulfilled: Social Science (1 of 2 with Anthropology for students in the College of Arts & Sciences); Engaging Diversity: Domestic
This course explores the city as a product of, and a rich site for, human beings’ negotiations over social and economic rights, power, identity, memory, meaning, and community. Drawing on a variety of historical, geographic, and ethnographic studies, we will ask what is qualitatively unique about urban life. Throughout the course, methodological questions regarding the city as an object of historical and ethnographic study are highlighted. We will look at Tokyo’s fish markets, mid-20th century New York City, contemporary Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, and the wounded cities of Beirut and New Orleans in order to understand the complexity of the urban experience through a holistic and critical anthropological lens.
Course meets June 3 – July 5, Mon. – Thu., 1:10 – 3:15 p.m.
BIOL 1008: Ecology and the Environment (3 credits)
Prof. Jennifer Fox
Core requirement fulfilled: Science for All
In this course, you will be introduced to the study of ecology and the environment. Throughout the course, we will apply ecological concepts to better understand urban ecosystems and our place within them. We will survey mechanisms and processes at work in the environment, and consider the impact of people and issues of sustainability. We will discuss wildlife and biodiversity in cities, urban agriculture, water and air quality in cities, and environmental contamination. You will develop the ability to critically evaluate discussion of environmental topics, including not only scientific aspects but also social and political factors.
Course meets June 3 – July 5, Mon. – Thu., 3:30 – 5:35 p.m.
HIST 1099: Race, Policing, and Incarceration (3 credits)
Prof. Luke Frederick
Core requirement fulfilled: Core History Focus/HIST 1099 requirement
In this course, we will investigate the origins of America’s carceral infrastructure of jails, prisons, and law enforcement and the variety of ways in which they were deployed in the attempt to achieve profitable systems of racial and social control. We will examine these structures and systems through the study of primary and secondary sources relating to the legislative history of racial statutes, systems of law enforcement, the domestic slave trade and kidnapping of free black people, the establishment of convict labor and penitentiaries, congressional debates, the press, and first-person narratives of black imprisonment and resistance. Antebellum Washington, D.C., will serve as our local case study in helping us to better understand how the forces of race, policing, and various forms of incarceration have interlocked for centuries.
Course meets June 3 – July 26, Mon. – Thu., 10:50 a.m. – 12:05 p.m.
AMST 2230: Houses, Schools, and Prisons (3 credits)
Prof. Timothy Kumfer
Core requirements fulfilled: Engaging Diversity: Domestic; Social Science (1 of 2 with Sociology for students in the College of Arts & Sciences)
This interdisciplinary course examines how housing, education, and incarceration serve as key sites for the production of racial and economic inequality in American life. Drawing on ethnic studies, history, sociology, and geography, we will explore the deep roots of property, discipline, and punishment in US culture and how they manifest in the urban present. In the final portion of the course, we will consider how communities of color have struggled to secure access to dignified housing and good schools while challenging multiple forms of criminalization.
Course meets July 8 – August 9, Mon. – Thu., 1:10 – 3:15 p.m.
ARTS 1301: Digital Photography: Documentary, Photojournalism, and Fine Art Through Urban Studies (3 credits)
Prof. Kelly Carr
Core requirement fulfilled: HALC: Humanities: Art, Literature, and Culture
A beginning digital photography studio art course focusing on urban studies in Washington, D.C. The course is designed to develop hands-on camera skills necessary to produce and identify the elements of a good photograph and to acquire a thorough working knowledge of digital cameras, software, and printers. Students will apply these learned skills by capturing images that reflect fine art, photojournalism, and documentary photography in Washington, D.C., and connect students to critical issues that affect the city. Exploring these photographic styles to develop narrative, opinion, and/or objective truth will provide students with personal insight, community experience, and develop substantive dialogue regarding important topics relating to urban studies.
Course meets July 8 – August 9, Mon. – Thu., 3:30 – 5:25 p.m.
Practicum
All students in the Institute will enroll in the Urban Studies Practicum, which will meet every Friday for the length of the 10-week Institute experience.
IDST 3240: Urban Studies Practicum (3 credits)
Prof. Jamie Kralovec
This course will help students in the Urban Studies Summer Institute integrate their learning experiences from their other core classes. The catalyst for the practicum will be direct, on-site student work with a community-based partner organization that serves identified community needs in the city. This dedicated weekly commitment to a particular community-serving organization will comprise the majority of student work in the course. Along the way, students will also be introduced to urban planning professionals who are actively shaping community life in Washington, D.C. In addition to site-specific community-based learning, the course consists of written reflections, small group conversations, guest presenters, and class discussions that encourage students to deeply discern how their direct experience of urban studies in the Summer Institute might inform their academic and professional development.
Course meets June 7 - August 9, Fridays, 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Program Participation
You must participate in all scheduled Institute programming. You may not partially participate in the Institute. Any outside commitments you may have—including but not limited to summer internships—cannot conflict with either class meetings or experiential components. Students who wish to take one of the courses à la carte may do so through the Georgetown School of Continuing Studies, space permitting.
You may reach out to Summer Institute in Urban Studies Associate Director Erin Force at erin.force@georgetown.edu with your specific questions regarding courses and participation.