This inter-disciplinary upper-level seminar will explore the complex political, historical, social, economic, cultural, racial, structural, cinematic, and aesthetic arrangements that are at the root of the depiction and discussion of urban cities, concentrated poverty, interpersonal violence, and crime, the raw force of the War on drugs, racial inequality and prospects for reform. As such, we will critically examine a number of vital conceptual, empirical, and normative questions regarding these themes and how they relate to the nearly 100 open-air-drug markets in Baltimore. In doing so, we also will explore the cultural significance of the HBO award-winning show (2002-2008) and what, if anything, it tells us about those who live at the margins and "corners" of American urban cities.
- Teacher: Keith Reeves