Check Out a Syllabus for an Urban Design Course That Somehow Doesn't Exist Yet

The African-American Students Association at Harvard’s Graduate School of Urban Design has done some groundbreaking work in the past few years. They hosted a visit from design obsessive Kanye West in 2013. They hosted a race- and justice-focused conference a few months ago that encapsulated the gravity of the subsequent protests in cities across the country. But despite this work, they noted, in the afore-linked Al Jazeera America story on the conference, that their school still has no courses that link racial justice to urban design. 

Citylab writer (and former Colorlines reporting fellow) Brentin Mock noted this and, in consultation with various architects and designers, created a sample syllabus for such a class. We think the list of works is pretty rad, featuring notable literature from throughout the history of critical studies.