This course examines questions of power and justice through the lens of the contemporary metropolis,
with a focus on St. Louis specifically and American urban life more generally. It asks what power is and
how we can best study and criticize power relations. It asks what justice requires and how we can realize,
or more closely approximate, just institutions and practices. It explores racial hierarchy and racial
injustice, the relationships among contemporary cities and their suburbs, and strategies for resisting
power. By the end of the semester, you should have a sense of some of the challenges facing the American
metropolis today, as well as the conceptual tools you need to think about those and related challenges in
terms of power and social justice.