Course Syllabus

Course Information：

Year-Semester Course Number Course Name Phase Credits Hours Required/Elective Instructor Class Student NO. Withdraw Note

Fall Semester
Year 2025 352482 Cultural Medium Intervening into Urban Design 1 3.0 3 ★ CHEN, YING-FEN GAUD
DID 11 1 建都所和設計博合開

Year-Semester	Course Number	Course Name	Phase	Credits	Hours	Required/Elective	Instructor	Class	Student NO.	Withdraw	Note
Fall Semester Year 2025	352482	Cultural Medium Intervening into Urban Design	1	3.0	3	★	CHEN, YING-FEN	GAUD DID	11	1	建都所和設計博合開

Course Plan：

Instructor CHEN, YING-FEN　Office Hours

Email yingfenchen@ntut.edu.tw

Last Updated 2025-05-27 16:05:14

Course Objective The scholarship of “Medium and Environment” was first explored by Marshall McLuhan in the 1960s with a series of academic and practical works. However, this field was not gaining much attention until the past decade when technology has brought novel challenges. Scholars in both urban studies and media studies have been shifting their focuses to this aspect. Because of this, the studies of medium and environment has recently been an emerging field that intends to examine the phenomena intertwining the two aspects through interdisciplinary approach. Based on this background, this course will introduce cutting-edge scholarships of medium and environment studies to the traditional field of urban cultural studies, pursuing effective perspectives to unfold today’s critical urban issues, for instance globalization in digital era, the popularity of carnival and creative industries, smart and resilient city, Netflix economy/urbanism (Harvey, 2020), and so forth. Student will be expected to learn how to bridge theories and practices, to develop ability of critical thinking, and to learn corresponding methodologies.

Course Schedule Week 01 Introduction: Cultural Medium and Urban Design/Assignment Introduction: Keywords Week 02 Medium and Media/Assignment Introduction: Literature Review Week 03 Representational Space and the Third Space Week 04 Globalization in a Digital Age Week 05 Assignment Discussion 1_Literature Review/Assignment Introduction: Text and Visual Analysis Week 06 Material Culture Week 07 Creative Class Week 08 Assignment Discussion 2_Text and Visual Analysis/Assignment Introduction: Interview and Transcripts Week 09 Carnival Urbanism Week 10 Intelligent City Week 11 Elemental Media and Infrastructure Week 12 Assignment Discussion 3_Interview and Transcripts/Assignment Introduction: Participatory Observation and Mapping Week 13 The Unbuilt Week 14 Conference Break or Invited Lecture Week 15 Assignment Discussion 4_Participatory Observation and Mapping/Assignment Introduction: Keywords and Wikipedia Entry Week 16 Virtual Sphere, Lockdown Urbanism, Netflix Economy Week 17 Final Presentation Week 18 Final Week: Entry/Essay Submission

Evaluation and grading policy 15% Literature Review 15% Interview and Transcripts 15% Text and Visual Analysis 15% Mapping 10% Final Presentation 15% Essay/Entry 15% Participation

Materials All right reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.

Foreign-language textbooks:Yes
Alexander, C. (1965) A City is Not a Tree. Architectural Forum, Vol 122, No 1, pp 58-62. Casetti, F. (2015) The Lumière Galaxy: Seven Key Words for the Cinema to Come. New York: Columbia University Press. Castell, M. (2001, 2002) “Space of Flows, Space o Places: Materials for a Theory of Urbanism in the Information Age” in The City Reader 5th Edition (2011). Routledge. Charles B. (2002) “Interviewing, power/knowledge, and social inequality,” in Handbook of Interview Research: Context and Method, ed. Gubrium, J. and Holstein, J. (Thousand Oaks: Sage, 2002), 911-922. Dant, T. (2005) Materiality and Society. Open University Press. Doerr, N. M. and Occhi, D. J. ed. (2019 The Augmented Reality of Pokémon Go: Chronotopes, Moral Panic, and Other Complexities. Lexington Books. Florida, R. (2002) “The Creative Class” in in The City Reader 5th Edition (2011). Routledge. Florida, R., Adler, P. & Mellander, C. (2017) The city as innovation machine, Regional Studies, 51:1, 86-96 Foucault, M. (1994) The Order of Things: An Archaeology of Human Sciences. Vintage. Graff, G. and Birkenstein, C. (2018) They Say I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing (4 Ed.). W. W. NORTON & COMPANY, INC. Harvey, D. (1989) From Managerialism to Entrepreneurialism: The Transformation in Urban Governance in Late Capitalism. Geografiska Annaler. 71 B (1): 3-17. Harvey, D. (2003) Paris, Capital of Modernity. Routledge. Gubrium, J. and Holstein,J. (2002) “From the Individual Interview to the Interview Society,” in Handbook of Interview Research: Context and Method, ed. Gubrium, J. and Holstein, J. (Thousand Oaks: Sage, 2002), 3-32. Komninos, N. (2008 Intelligent Cities and Globalisation of Innovation Networks. Routledge. Krause, L. and Petro, P. Ed. (2003) Global Cities: Cinema, Architecture, and Urbanism in a Digital Age. Putgers U. Press. Low S., Simpson T., Scheld S. (2019) The Toolkit for the Ethnographic Study of Space. CUNY Public Space Research Group. Lubell, S. and Goldin, G. (2013) “Missed Opportunities: Los Angeles” in Never Built Los Angeles. Metropolis Books. Lynch, K. (1960) “The City Image and its Elements” in in The City Reader 5th Edition (2011). Routledge. McLuhan, M. (1964) Understanding Media: The Extension of Man. Cambridge: MIT Press. Mitchell, W.J.T. and Hansen, Mark ed. (2010) “Image” in Critical Terms for Media Studies, U. of Chicago Press. Peters, J. (2015) Marvelous Clouds: Toward an Elemental Philosophy of Media. Chicago, IL: U of Chicago Press. Prentice, R. and Andersen, V. (2003) Festival as creative destination. Annals of Tourism Research. 30 (1): 7-30. Elsevier. Shanken, A. M. (2009) 194X: Architecture, Planning, and Consumer Culture on the American Home Front. U. of Minnesota Press. Soja, E. (1996) Thirdspace: Journey to Los Angeles and Other Real-And-Imaged Places. Blaclwell Publishing. Somaini, A. (2016) “Walter Benjamin’s Media Theory: The Medium and the Apparat” Grey Room 62, 6-41. Tsing, A. L. (2017) The Mushroom at the End of the World: On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins. Princeton University Press. Williams, R. (1985) Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society [1976]. Oxford U. Press. Zhang, Q. et al. (2022) Uneven development and tourism gentrification in the metropolitan fringe: A case study of Wuzhen Xizha in Zhejiang Province, China. Cities. Elsevier. 王志弘（2009）多重的辯證--列斐伏爾空間生產概念三元組演繹與引申。地理學報；55期，1-24

The access to curricular consultation Instructor：CHEN, Ying-Fen 陳盈棻
Email: yingfenchen@ntut.edu.tw
Office Hours: 10:00-12:00 Wednesday & Thursday 設計館351-2, by appointment

The course corresponds to the SDGs SDG11：永續城市與社區（Sustainable Cities and Communities）

Does the course incorporate AI ● 使用生成式AI作為教學過程的輔助工具（Use generative AI tools as an aid to the teaching process）

Note
If the course is influenced by COVID-19, the online teaching link will be sent to the students by email and LINE text.

Instructor	CHEN, YING-FEN　Office Hours
Email	yingfenchen@ntut.edu.tw
Last Updated	2025-05-27 16:05:14
Course Objective	The scholarship of “Medium and Environment” was first explored by Marshall McLuhan in the 1960s with a series of academic and practical works. However, this field was not gaining much attention until the past decade when technology has brought novel challenges. Scholars in both urban studies and media studies have been shifting their focuses to this aspect. Because of this, the studies of medium and environment has recently been an emerging field that intends to examine the phenomena intertwining the two aspects through interdisciplinary approach. Based on this background, this course will introduce cutting-edge scholarships of medium and environment studies to the traditional field of urban cultural studies, pursuing effective perspectives to unfold today’s critical urban issues, for instance globalization in digital era, the popularity of carnival and creative industries, smart and resilient city, Netflix economy/urbanism (Harvey, 2020), and so forth. Student will be expected to learn how to bridge theories and practices, to develop ability of critical thinking, and to learn corresponding methodologies.
Course Schedule	Week 01 Introduction: Cultural Medium and Urban Design/Assignment Introduction: Keywords Week 02 Medium and Media/Assignment Introduction: Literature Review Week 03 Representational Space and the Third Space Week 04 Globalization in a Digital Age Week 05 Assignment Discussion 1_Literature Review/Assignment Introduction: Text and Visual Analysis Week 06 Material Culture Week 07 Creative Class Week 08 Assignment Discussion 2_Text and Visual Analysis/Assignment Introduction: Interview and Transcripts Week 09 Carnival Urbanism Week 10 Intelligent City Week 11 Elemental Media and Infrastructure Week 12 Assignment Discussion 3_Interview and Transcripts/Assignment Introduction: Participatory Observation and Mapping Week 13 The Unbuilt Week 14 Conference Break or Invited Lecture Week 15 Assignment Discussion 4_Participatory Observation and Mapping/Assignment Introduction: Keywords and Wikipedia Entry Week 16 Virtual Sphere, Lockdown Urbanism, Netflix Economy Week 17 Final Presentation Week 18 Final Week: Entry/Essay Submission
Evaluation and grading policy	15% Literature Review 15% Interview and Transcripts 15% Text and Visual Analysis 15% Mapping 10% Final Presentation 15% Essay/Entry 15% Participation
Materials	All right reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Foreign-language textbooks:Yes Alexander, C. (1965) A City is Not a Tree. Architectural Forum, Vol 122, No 1, pp 58-62. Casetti, F. (2015) The Lumière Galaxy: Seven Key Words for the Cinema to Come. New York: Columbia University Press. Castell, M. (2001, 2002) “Space of Flows, Space o Places: Materials for a Theory of Urbanism in the Information Age” in The City Reader 5th Edition (2011). Routledge. Charles B. (2002) “Interviewing, power/knowledge, and social inequality,” in Handbook of Interview Research: Context and Method, ed. Gubrium, J. and Holstein, J. (Thousand Oaks: Sage, 2002), 911-922. Dant, T. (2005) Materiality and Society. Open University Press. Doerr, N. M. and Occhi, D. J. ed. (2019 The Augmented Reality of Pokémon Go: Chronotopes, Moral Panic, and Other Complexities. Lexington Books. Florida, R. (2002) “The Creative Class” in in The City Reader 5th Edition (2011). Routledge. Florida, R., Adler, P. & Mellander, C. (2017) The city as innovation machine, Regional Studies, 51:1, 86-96 Foucault, M. (1994) The Order of Things: An Archaeology of Human Sciences. Vintage. Graff, G. and Birkenstein, C. (2018) They Say I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing (4 Ed.). W. W. NORTON & COMPANY, INC. Harvey, D. (1989) From Managerialism to Entrepreneurialism: The Transformation in Urban Governance in Late Capitalism. Geografiska Annaler. 71 B (1): 3-17. Harvey, D. (2003) Paris, Capital of Modernity. Routledge. Gubrium, J. and Holstein,J. (2002) “From the Individual Interview to the Interview Society,” in Handbook of Interview Research: Context and Method, ed. Gubrium, J. and Holstein, J. (Thousand Oaks: Sage, 2002), 3-32. Komninos, N. (2008 Intelligent Cities and Globalisation of Innovation Networks. Routledge. Krause, L. and Petro, P. Ed. (2003) Global Cities: Cinema, Architecture, and Urbanism in a Digital Age. Putgers U. Press. Low S., Simpson T., Scheld S. (2019) The Toolkit for the Ethnographic Study of Space. CUNY Public Space Research Group. Lubell, S. and Goldin, G. (2013) “Missed Opportunities: Los Angeles” in Never Built Los Angeles. Metropolis Books. Lynch, K. (1960) “The City Image and its Elements” in in The City Reader 5th Edition (2011). Routledge. McLuhan, M. (1964) Understanding Media: The Extension of Man. Cambridge: MIT Press. Mitchell, W.J.T. and Hansen, Mark ed. (2010) “Image” in Critical Terms for Media Studies, U. of Chicago Press. Peters, J. (2015) Marvelous Clouds: Toward an Elemental Philosophy of Media. Chicago, IL: U of Chicago Press. Prentice, R. and Andersen, V. (2003) Festival as creative destination. Annals of Tourism Research. 30 (1): 7-30. Elsevier. Shanken, A. M. (2009) 194X: Architecture, Planning, and Consumer Culture on the American Home Front. U. of Minnesota Press. Soja, E. (1996) Thirdspace: Journey to Los Angeles and Other Real-And-Imaged Places. Blaclwell Publishing. Somaini, A. (2016) “Walter Benjamin’s Media Theory: The Medium and the Apparat” Grey Room 62, 6-41. Tsing, A. L. (2017) The Mushroom at the End of the World: On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins. Princeton University Press. Williams, R. (1985) Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society [1976]. Oxford U. Press. Zhang, Q. et al. (2022) Uneven development and tourism gentrification in the metropolitan fringe: A case study of Wuzhen Xizha in Zhejiang Province, China. Cities. Elsevier. 王志弘（2009）多重的辯證--列斐伏爾空間生產概念三元組演繹與引申。地理學報；55期，1-24
The access to curricular consultation	Instructor：CHEN, Ying-Fen 陳盈棻 Email: yingfenchen@ntut.edu.tw Office Hours: 10:00-12:00 Wednesday & Thursday 設計館351-2, by appointment
The course corresponds to the SDGs	SDG11：永續城市與社區（Sustainable Cities and Communities）
Does the course incorporate AI	● 使用生成式AI作為教學過程的輔助工具（Use generative AI tools as an aid to the teaching process）
Note	If the course is influenced by COVID-19, the online teaching link will be sent to the students by email and LINE text.