An Interdisciplinary Perspective on Urban Culture, Space, Architecture, and Design
Placemaking talk is everywhere these days. So too is “creative class” talk. Richard Florida—formulator of the creative class concept—combines them in a recent essay for Urban Land. Many people are on board with the notion that quality of place has […]
It was a pleasure to welcome Franco Minganti, Professor of American Literature at the University of Bologna, to my campus last week. Franco is the European-side Co-Director of a European Commission/United States Department of Education curriculum development grant awarded to […]
Last June’s Venice Seminar frequently prompted me to think about what the “deep time” perspectives of evolutionary psychology and archaeology can contribute to the conversation about intercultural place-making. I’ve argued that Evolutionary Psychology might direct us to some cross-cultural common […]
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better. […]
It was an honor to participate in the recent Intercultural Place-Making Seminar sponsored by The Council of Europe’s Intercultural Cities Programme and held at the Palazzo Badoer, Università IUAV di Venezia. The seminar’s central organizing question was how urban planning […]
The 20th annual Congress for the New Urbanism recently wrapped up in West Palm Beach, Florida. I’ve never been to the Congress—and I didn’t attend this one—but I’m always interested in what transpires. A few summary reports by attendees provide […]
Back in November 2011 I wrote a review of Chad Friedrichs’ film The Pruitt-Igoe Myth. I’m prompted to revisit the subject because of a very nice analysis of the film by Ray Gindroz that recently appeared in Better! Cities and Towns. […]
I came across this video by Joerg Niggli while checking in on Kaid Benfield’s blog, who had come across it while checking in on The Urbanophile. It’s called “Venice in A Day”: I’ve visited Venice before, as part of a […]
One of my favorite anthropologists is the Norwegian Thomas Hylland Eriksen. His book Engaging Anthropology was a big hit in my senior capstone seminar on public anthropology. I recently came across his essay “Diversity versus Difference: Neoliberalism in the Minority […]
One of the delights of being in Bologna recently was meeting, courtesy of my colleague Gabriele Manella, other scholars doing urban research in the University of Bologna’s Sociology Department. I’m honored for our anthropology department here at DU to be […]
I’m just back from the “Contours of The City Conference” in Bologna, organized by the University of Bologna’s Laboratorio di Ricerca Sulle Città. It was all good: terrific hosts, stimulating company, an elegant meeting venue, and great cuisine. The conference […]
I use the concept of cosmopolis in Leonie Sandercock’s sense, referring to a city that’s developed in ways sensitive to cultural diversity and its wider societal benefits (e.g., enhanced vitality and creativity). In a recent post I noted that the sessions […]