Annotation
This course is a reading and discussion seminar focusing on the theoretical and practical issues connected to the use of public space and urban politics from a gendered perspective. The course is conceptually divided into two parts. The first part of the course focuses on the relationship between history, space, and collective memory. Using gender as an analytical category and lens of critique, we will examine spatial constructions of memorial places and commemorative practices that significantly shape how we think about and approach the past and how we (both collectively as a society and as individuals) interpret what is defined as a „national history“. Using comparative approach, we will study constructions and politics of selected monuments and memorials in different countries, and analyze how memorial spaces shape why (and how) we remember certain things and events (while we forget or overlook others). At the same time, we will discuss how and in what ways the memorial spaces reflect (gendered) constructions and interpretations of the past.
The second part of the course grows from the topics of feminist geography and ubran studies, which examine the relationship between sex/gender system/order, organization of (public) space and constructions of gender and sexual identities in space. As Melissa Gilbert argues, the meaning of space is not only metaphorical. Space is not just a „container“ of identities and social relations, through space these identities and relationships are directly formed, reinforced or challenged. Geography is an important dimension of identity construction as well as promotion (or restriction) of social diversity. In the second part of the course, we will look into several different directions to study selected topics of feminist geography and urban studies in detail, such as the institutional construction and regulation of public space as „(un)safe“, „(in)accessible“, „(un)clean“, etc.; geography of fear and urban planning; geography of social exclusion and topography of marginalized identities; construction of tourist locations as sexual destinations, etc.
The goal of the course is to introduce the main theoretical concepts and diverse approaches and directions of feminist geography and urban studies and show how the ideas about the organization of (public) space and its usage for diverse political purposes have changed over time and in different geographical locations.