14208 Issues in Spatial Theory 1

Credits: 3 graduate credits in Cultural Studies

Prerequisites: Two of the following courses: Society, Culture and Representation; Theories and Approaches in Cultural Studies; Anthropological and Sociological Approaches to Cultural Studies; Multiculturalism in Israel

The course is based on a reader edited by Tamar Berger.

The course presents the major theories on the cultural construction of space. It traces the shifts from an all-inclusive and unifying perception of space with clear and fixed divisions (interior/exterior, city/country, etc.), to a perception that views space as a dynamic, constantly changing, phenomenon, in which such dichotomies are blurred, and to the virtualization of space – the internet space.

Topics: The interior space: the structure of the home and the concept of privacy; The urban space: the modern city as a cultural space of relations between social sectors, between center and suburbs; The global space: power relations between the local and the global; Crossed spaces and ‘the third space’: the encounter and mutual infiltration among categories, the blurring of borders and their fluidity; “Non places,” heterotopias and virtual spaces: from airports, hotel chains and lack of belonging, through invented but real locations (the zoo), to internet space.

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1Students may write a seminar paper in this course, although it is not required.