Through a conception of the city as a microcosm of the world, this course will initiate NYU in Paris students to international urban comparative methods. Focusing on the cities of Paris and New York, we will compare how each, over time, forms its own imaginary through literature, cinema, television, the press, architecture, and art.
As major metropolises, Paris and New York are deeply engaged in processes of globalization, of both the “hard” and “soft” version. Each city has to stay competitive, to accumulate wealth, to retain its inhabitants as well as to attract tourists, business professionals, students, and immigrants. Each dreams of one day becoming a “green” city. Each is also familiar with failure, needing to wrestle with problems of inequality and discrimination. The social disorder associated with these cities comes both from external forces (terrorism) and internal problems, largely urban violence in marginalized neighborhoods. The media propagates these fears by playing up urban anxieties. Danger exists in both of these cities, amplified also by rumor and fantasy.
In this course we will study these phenomena through the analysis of novels, films, television series, artwork, and architecture. We will examine the views of the upper echelons of the elite, consider the actions of citizens united in civic organizations or acting independently, and read analyses of scholars of the city. The testimonies of immigrants or their children will provide yet another comparative terrain. Finally, the course will study changes in each city’s image over time, and ask how various representations of the city have been managed by actors in the cities themselves.
Students will be asked to read and analyze texts as well as films. Each student will conduct an oral and written personal research project connected to the themes of the course.
