Students Convene Across Disciplines to Discuss the Future of Cities
On Saturday, February 23rd, the Georgetown Global Cities Initiative (GGCI) hosted the inaugural Student Research Retreat which brought students together from across the University. Undergraduate and graduate students represented five schools and many different disciplines, to collaborate, network, share their research, and discuss the future of urban research at Georgetown.
Reflecting the multidisciplinary and extraordinarily diverse nature of both students and their interests in urban research, attendees represented the Law Center, the McCourt School, the School of Continuing Studies, the McDonough School, the Graduate School, and the School of Foreign Service. They came from degree programs and departments ranging from Urban and Regional Planning; Government; Public Policy; and Science, Technology and International Affairs; as well as the Spanish department. As such, students reflected the great diversity of perspectives sharing a common passion for cities. The dynamic nature of these students enriched and informed many discussions during the retreat.
The program was organized in a manner to enable students to present their urban research, to have an open dialogue and to contribute critical feedback on the ways in which the GGCI can serve student interests. Group discussion benefited from the active involvement of Visiting Fellow and urban scholar Philip Sheldrake, author of The Spiritual City: Theology, Spirituality, and the Urban, who also offered concluding remarks.
Student presentations included the following:
Property Rights in the Aftermath of Conflict. The Case of the City of Karachi
A Comparative Performance Assessment of the Historic DC Streetcar System
Cooperative Metropolitan and Regional Governance Strategies
The Convergence Between Premodern Governing Conceptions of the Walled Arab City State with the Utilization of Cyber Weaponry
Global City Networks, International City Diplomacy, and Municipal International Law
“Multi-disciplinary, international and place-based. This is the spirit of the Georgetown Global Cities Initiative,” commented Uwe S. Brandes, faculty director of the GGCI, “I would like to thank all of the students who participated in this inaugural event and especially Prof. Sheldrake who shared his unique perspective on how place-base inquiry is producing new insights into the evolution of cities around the world.”
The retreat was an inaugural convening of student-researchers seeking to share insights outside of their disciplines. The event was designed to advance the mission of the initiative which is connect diverse faculty and students involved in city-related research across the entire Georgetown community.
The agenda for this event can be accessed here.