11.401 Class Home

11.401 Introduction to Housing, Community and Economic Development

Fall 2004

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Langston Terrace Dwellings in northeast Washington, DC designed by Hilyard Robinson built in 1937 by the Public Works Adminstration

Instructor: J. Phillip Thompson

TA: La Tonya Green

Lecture: Tuesdays & Thursdays 10.30-12 (3-401)

COURSE OVERVIEW:

Given that the quest for effective practice underlies the Housing, Community, and Economic Development (HCED) philosophy, the course emphasizes strategic analysis of the institutional contexts within which public, nonprofit and private actions directed at housing, economic and community development are implemented. A way of framing neighborhood institutions and organizations, their relationship to one another and to "city-wide" players is a theme running throughout the course.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:
As an introduction to the field of HCED, the course is structured to:

(1) advance student's understanding of how public policy and private markets affect housing, economic development, the local economy, and neighborhood institutions;

(2) provide an overview of techniques for framing public and private interventions to meet housing and community development agendas (broadly defined) of inner-city and low-income neighborhoods;

(3) review and critique specific programs, policies and strategies that are (and have been) directed at local development and neighborhood regeneration issues; and

(4) give students an opportunity to reflect on their personal sense of the "housing, community, and economic development" process and the various roles that planners play in implementing various elements of those processes.

READINGS
There is a substantial amount of reading for this course. Students are expected to attend class having read, digested, and prepared to engage in intense discussion of the readings. Most of the readings are provided for you on-line under the "Materials" section of this site. In addition to the readings on-line, there are four required books for the course:

(1) bell hooks. where we stand: class matters (New York: Routledge Press, 2002). ISBN: 041592913X;

(2) Gail Redford. Modern Housing for America: Policy Struggles in the New Era (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998). ISBN: 0226702235;

(3)Scott Campbell and Susan S. Fainstein, editors. Readings in Planning Theory (Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers, 2003). ISBN: 0631223479; and

(4) Thad Williamson, David Imbroscio, and Gar Alperovitz. Making a Place for Community: Local Democracy in a Global Era (New York: Routledge Press, 2002). ISBN: 0415933560.

REQUIREMENTS
In addition to doing the required reading, students are expected to participate in class discussions, to give a 10-minute presentation (i.e. stating the key assumption(s), the central argument(s), and any questions you may have, etc) of one of the assigned readings, and to hand-in three memos. Expectations for the presentation and the memos - their form, purpose, content, setting etc. - will be discussed in-detail in class.

GRADE
The final grade will be based on: class participation (includes your oral presentation) 40% and memos 60%

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