Cities and Our Urbanizing World
A Professional Development Workshop for Educators
July 31-August 3, 2017
More people are living in or moving to cities than ever before. As of 2014, 54% of people worldwide lived in cities, an increase of nearly 20% from 1950. This number is only expected to increase in the future, with estimates that ⅔ of the world’s population will be living in urban communities by 2050.* This migration from the rural to the urban presents challenges and opportunities that require the participation of individuals, communities, organizations, businesses, and governments (local, national, and multinational). The goal of the 2017 summer workshop for educators will be to investigate and make sense of these challenges and opportunities as a learning community and consider how best to communicate them to our students.
We all hold a variety of ideas about urbanization’s promises and perils. We will explore the multiple definitions and perceptions of cities, the origins of those varied perspectives and experiences, and how these interact with global forces (economic, political, cultural, social, etc.) Recognizing that urbanization is a process that not only affects cities but also rural and suburban areas, we will study their relationships to the city. However, our primary focus will be the role of the city. We will focus on urbanization as a global phenomenon. We will not exclude the US from the discussion (especially as a means of understanding our own perspectives and as a point of comparison), but will focus on global urbanization patterns and trends to enrich and expand our understanding beyond the American viewpoint.
As a learning community we will pay special attention to investigating both the benefits and costs of urbanization. We will examine how and why urbanization affects different groups and people differently. Specifically we will reflect on whether and how urbanization reduces or increases equity gaps. In this light we will think about how the public sector can ensure that all groups gain from the urbanization process and what contributions the can come from the private sector.
Geared toward middle school, high school, and community college educators in the humanities and social sciences (but open to educators in all subjects), this workshop will:
-
feature presentations by scholars, experts, policy-makers and practitioners who study urbanization and its impact;
-
explore pedagogy and skill-building techniques to help educators and students better understand urbanization as a global phenomenon; and
-
provide an introduction to relevant classroom resources.
Educators will explore global urbanization from two vantage points:
-
Urbanization as an historical and current-day global phenomenon and
-
The lived experience of individuals and communities experiencing the impact of urbanization in their daily lives.
The following questions will guide participants’ exploration:
-
What is a city?
-
How have cities developed across the globe? How has the rise of urbanization affected rural areas?
-
What opportunities and challenges does urbanization bring across the world?
-
What roles do the public and private sectors play in the process of urbanization?
-
How does urbanization impact local communities, families, and individuals?
To support deep conversations around curriculum and pedagogy as well as content, we have partnered with Project Zero, a research group based at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Guided by its mission to understand and enhance high-level thinking and learning across disciplines and cultures in schools internationally, Project Zero will help to provide the pedagogical underpinning for this year’s workshop, drawing upon its diverse research-based initiatives, including “Educating for Global Competence,” “Teaching for Understanding,” “Making Learning Visible,” and “Making Thinking Visible.”
Participation in this program is determined through an application-based selection process.
The application deadline is March 31, 2017.
Email amudd@fas.harvard.edu with any questions.
The cost of participation in the workshop is $50. Unfortunately, Global Studies Outreach at Harvard cannot provide financial assistance for travel or lodging to workshop participants.
The Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, with support from a Title VI/National Resource Center Grant from the US Department of Education, is able to offer limited travel reimbursement to Community College educators from outside Massachusetts. If you meet these two criteria and are interested in applying for these funds, please declare this within the workshop application.
For more information please click "Further Official Information" below.
This opportunity has expired. It was originally published here:
http://globalstudiesoutreach.harvard.edu/cities-and-our-urbanizing-world