En/VC 197 - The Urban Environmental Imagination

This class looks at the material and imagined facets of nature in the city. To begin, we will trace an overview of ideas about nature in urbanist discourse, starting with works from canonical figures such as Frederick Law Olmsted and carrying forward to discussions of environmental justice, political ecology, and multi-species urbanism. Alongside this critical introduction, we will turn to artworks that challenge urbanist conventions and pose imaginative possibilities at the intersection of nature, culture, and the city. Our efforts will fall between disciplines-critical urbanism, cultural studies, and the environmental humanities-and Los Angeles will play a starring role. Not offered 2025-26.