Urban Humanities

We invite all who are curious about Urban Humanities

to join a book circle and lecture series where researchers, artists, planners, popular educators, and activists will collectively explore this field, its practices, and its possibilities.

Participants in this diverse group will read and discuss the book Urban Humanities: New Practices for Reimagining the City (Cuff et al., 2020). These readings and discussions will be enriched by lectures from prominent scholars in the field. The circle aims to help us envision what Urban Humanities will become at Malmö University and in the city. How does this field become meaningful to urban actors with different perspectives? What can each of us create with it, and what can we create together?

Participants who are interested will be invited to contribute position papers, written individually or collaboratively. These papers will form the basis for an issue of IUR’s digital journal Urban Matters.

Planned Meeting 

The book circle will meet six times. Each meeting will feature an open lecture, followed by a group discussion on the selected reading. During the final meeting, participants will present their position papers to the group. To this meeting, also the lecturers from previous sessions will be invited.

  • October 1, 13:15–16:00. Room: NI:A047, Niagara
    Introduction
  • October 18, 13:15–16:00. OR:F415, Orkanen
    Tim Verlaan: “Contingencies and temporalities in the social fabric of Western European cities 1960–1990”
  • November 8, 13:15–16:00. NI:A061, Niagara
    Jakob Ingemann Parnby: “Curating the metropolis: On monuments, sounds and street-furniture in the urbanization of Europe, (1870-1920)”
  • November 15, 13:25–16:00. OR:F409, Orkanen
    Sara Dybris McQuaid: “Every generation needs regeneration: Communities of memory and change in North Belfast”
  • November 29, 13:15–16:00. OR:F413, Orkanen
    Kara Blackmore: “Insights from collaborative urban explorations at UCL Urban Room”
  • December 13, 13:15–16:00. NI:A0307, Niagara
    Mikkel Höghöj: ”The welfare city? Urban autonomy, space and citizenship in the Nordic countries”
  • January 24, 13:15–16:00. NI:A0510, Niagara
    Ash Katzeff: ”Solarpunk cities”
  • February 7, 13:15–16:00: NI:A0611, Niagara
    On the positionality of the urban humanities (conclusions)

How to register

Email: robert.mohammadi@mau.se.

Since we envision the book circle as a collective exploration, we will prioritize participants who can commit to the entire series of events. Participants who can commit to the full series will receive a copy of Urban Humanities: New Practices for Reimagining the City (Cuff et al., 2020).

The Urban Humanities Book Circle is hosted by the Institute for Urban Research (IUR), which will officially become a research center at Malmö University in January 2025, with Urban Humanities as one of its key thematic areas.

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