Course Descriptions
UIC-1001 (3) Introduction to Urban and Inner-City Studies (3 hrs Lecture)
The course provides an overview of the dynamics that drive a city's growth and that produce change over time. It considers the social impact of urban change, with particular emphasis on the interconnectedness of the different parts of the city and on the impact of urban change on the inner city. It examines how these changes shape city politics, looking at the political interests and problems associated with the commercial core, older residential neighborhoods near the centre, and burgeoning suburban and exurban areas. It also examines how the three levels of government are involved in shaping and responding to these changes.
UIC-1002 (3) Issues in the Inner-City Studies: An Introduction (3 hrs Lecture)
The inner-city, a post-war phenomenon unique to North America, is of interest to urban studies because it focuses our attention on the margins and on issues of social justice. This course is offered on an occasional basis to respond to specific requests from the inner-city community, and/or to take advantage of opportunities to examine trends or concerns that arise in the inner city. The topic covered may vary from year to year. Students should consult the Department of Urban and Inner-City Studies about the topic in any given year. If the topic is different from one they have previously taken, they are permitted to enroll in the course and receive credit.
UIC-1010 (3) Indigenous Ways of Knowing (3 hrs Seminar/Discussion)
Large numbers of Indigenous peoples settling in Winnipeg, and in core neighbourhoods, suggest that students studying urbanism need to be aware that the city and critical issues in the inner city can be interpreted differently. This course offers an introduction to Indigenous ways of knowing through active participation in strategies that facilitate the production of Indigenous knowledge and through comparisons with Euro-American ways of knowing. By taking part in basic ceremony and related practices, students gain an understanding of how First Peoples of Manitoba relate to each other, to the land, to other animals, and to the world. Cross-listed: IS-1010(3). Restrictions: Students may not hold credit for this course and IS-1010.
UIC-1012 (3) Dynamics of the Inner City (3 hrs Seminar/Discussion)
This course exposes students to inner-city life, experienced through field trips to meet with formal and informal community leaders and community-based organizations. Students benefit from presentations by those whose calling and work focuses on critical inner-city issues. We observe changes arising from resiliency, activism, multiculturalism, and the blending of social justice and traditional Indigenous values. Students explore the inner-city life of Indigenous peoples and newly-arrived Canadians. Classes emphasize discussion and "inner-city stories".
UIC-2001 (3) Community Development (3 hrs Lecture)
This course is an introduction to the idea of community development and community economic development. The course considers the principles and philosophy of community development/community economic development, and examines the key elements of CD/CED including neighborhood revitalization,housing development and rehabilitation, employment development and training, and social enterprise. Cross-listed: IS-2301(3). Restrictions: Students may not hold credit for this course and IS-2301.
UIC-2010 (3) Metis Identity, Culture and Rights (3 hrs Lecture)
In this course, students undertake an historical overview of Métis origins, culture, and overnance. Students explore the role that the Métis played in Manitoba's confederation, and other efforts to secure rights - including resisting Canadian expansion during the North-West Resistance (1885). Students learn about Métis dispossession from land, experiences in day and residential schools, and ongoing Métis selfdetermination. Students also discuss contemporary issues faced by the Métis including important court cases, the phenomenon of raceshifting, land claims and restoration of the Métis homeland. Students gain a better understanding of the Métis Nation with a particular focus on the Manitoba Métis community. Restriction: Students who have credit for UIC-3100, Issues in Urban and Inner-City Studies, when the topic was Métis Identity, Culture and Rights cannot take this course for credit. Students who hold credit for HIST-3525 or 3625 require permission from the instructor.
UIC-2020 (3) Colonization and Indigenous Peoples (3 hrs Lecture)
This course examines the Indigenous colonial experience, particularly in Western Canada, and the impact colonization has had and continues to have on the relationship between Indigenous peoples and Canadian governments. This course emphasizes the contemporary effects of colonization, particularly as regards identity issues and how they play out in the urban and inner-city environment, and also processes and strategies for decolonization. Cross-listed: POL-2020(3) and IS-2020(3). Restrictions: Students may not hold credit for this course and IS-2020 | POL-2020.
UIC-2030 (3) Management and Financial Administration for Community Leadership (3 hrs Lecture)
As small-scale and not-for-profit structures, community-based and Indigenous organizations often face unique challenges and political/cultural realities in terms of overall management and operations. This course provides students with a good understanding of the key facets of inner- city management and administrative structures within the community and Indigenous sectors in particular. Key topics include organizational structures and management controls, financial statements and budgeting, performance measurement, strategic planning and operations analysis and evaluation. Cross-listed: IS-2030(3) and BUS-2030(3). Restrictions: Students may not hold credit for this course and BUS-2030 | IS-2030. Requisite Courses: UIC-1001 or IS-1015 [prerequisite(s)].
UIC-2210 (3) Introduction to Community Advocacy (1 hrs Lecture | 2 hrs Seminar/Discussion)
The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and the War on Poverty that followed gave rise to a North American advocacy movement. With growing concern that people living in poverty required representation to fully assert their rights, storefront law offices opened in impoverished neighbourhoods and Canada's Legal Aid program was developed. This course examines the history and forms of advocacy from individual to public interest, and different models for providing advocacy services. It explores the role that advocacy plays in influencing public policy, particularly with respect to various social and benefit entitlement programs aimed at responding to urban poverty.
UIC-2220 (3) Urban Poverty and Policy (1 hrs Lecture | 2 hrs Seminar/Discussion)
Urban poverty is a growing problem throughout the world, including Canada. It is affected by a wide range of policies. This course examines urban poverty through the lens of these various policies, considering their origins, impact, adequacy and ideological character.
UIC-2515 (3) History of Education in Winnipeg's Inner City (3 hrs Lecture)
This course examines the history of education in Winnipeg's North End and broader inner city from the early 20th century to today. Particular attention is paid to those who have come to be identified as the "Other": eastern European immigrants early in the 20th century; Indigenous people and newcomers today. The relationship between poverty and educational outcomes is closely examined. Also emphasized are innovative educational strategies that have emerged in the inner city and that have been demonstrated to work well in improving educational outcomes. Restrictions: Students may not hold credit for this course and HIST-2515.
UIC-3001 (6) Urban and Inner City Practicum (3 hrs Apprenticeship/Internship/Practicum)
This course provides students with an experiential learning opportunity at an inner-city organization. Students spend three hours per week with the organization, observing what takes place, meeting and working with inner-city people and organizations, and taking on work assignments under the direction of the organization's staff and with the support of the course instructor. Course assignments may include, among others, interpretive journals and/or projects prepared for the organization. Requisite Courses: UIC-1001 and one other Core Course in Urban and Inner-City Studies [prerequisite(s)].
UIC-3002 (3 or 6) Directed Readings in Urban and Inner City Studies (3 hrs Lecture)
This course provides students with the opportunity to identify a topic of interest in Urban and Inner-City Studies and to examine the topic in depth under the supervision of a professor who has expertise in that area. This course may be taken more than once for credit if the topics vary. Note: Students may take a maximum of 12 credit hours in directed readings courses at the 3000 and 4000 level. Permission of the instructor is required. Restrictions: Department Permission Required.
UIC-3010 (3) Two-Spirit, Indigiqueer & Indigenous LGBTQ Realities(3 hrs Seminar/Discussion)
This course examines Two-Spirit, Indigiqueer, and Indigenous LGBTQ identities, realities, and selected issues. Among other topics, we explore Indigenous conceptions of gender and sexuality, colonial impacts upon Indigenous gender and sexual diversity, relationships between queer Indigenous community and the mainstream LGBTQ community, as well as Two-Spirit resurgence and self-determination especially in an urban context. Students learn to identify characteristics of nation-specific Indigenous concepts of gender and sexuality as well as ongoing colonial impacts. Cross-listed: IS-3011
Experimental Course - This course is offered on a trial basis to gauge interest in the topic. Students who successfully complete this course receive credit as indicated.
Restrictions: Students may not hold credit for this course and IS-3011
UIC-3020 (3) Women and the Inner City (3 hrs Lecture/Seminar)
This course explores a number of issues specific to women living in the inner city. We examine the economic, political, and social conditions that influence the lives of diverse populations of women living in the inner city and the various issues and problems associated with their positioning. Within this larger context, special attention is paid to the specific issues and problems related to the experience of urban Indigenous women, new immigrant women, underemployed women and street-involved women. Cross-listed: WGS-3020(3). Restrictions: Students may not hold credit for this course and WGS-3020.
UIC-3025 (3) Issues in Sustainable Cities (3 hrs Lecture)
This course addresses issues of sustainable urban development. Topics may include the following: world population growth and urbanization in developed and developing countries; the impact of technology, trade, and commercial globalization on urban environments; the degradation of land, water, and air inside cities and in their bio-regions; the consumption of fossil fuels and the local and global impact of their combustion; the politics of sustainable urban development; the role of planning and urban administrative practices and policies in environmental degradation and mitigation; and the place of local environmental initiatives in national environmental actions. Cross-listed: ENV-3025(3). Restrictions: Students may not hold credit for this course and ENV-3025. Requisite Courses: GEOG-2414, or the former GEOG-2404, or UIC-1001, or permission of the instructor (must be taken previously or at the same time as this course).
UIC-3030 (3) Urban and Community Planning (3 hrs Lecture)
Urban planning shapes the city spaces where we live, work, and play, and affects the well-being of all urban dwellers. Students critically examine planning history, theory, and practice in local context, with anbemphasis on
understanding values, power, and process. Students explore planning at city and neighbourhood scales through
assignments, activities, and field trips that highlight current issues and planning strategies for equity and transformation. Topics may include community leadership and participation in planning, Indigenous urban planning,
planning as social control, and planning for sustainable and equitable cities. Requisite Courses: UIC-1001 or UIC-2001 or GEOG-1105 or the previous GEOG-1103, or permission of the instructor
UIC-3036 (3) History of Winnipeg's Inner City (3 hrs Lecture)
Students analyze, critique, and build on Winnipeg's rich history of inner-city resistance. Students investigate the historical function of the term "inner city" as a coalition-building movement intended to unite people in resistance to suburban sprawl and political neglect. Students trace how conditions in the inner city were produced not simply by top-down processes such as globalization and neoliberalism, but through local efforts to mediate them. Students read inner-city activism in Winnipeg as a distinct epistemological tradition and body of urban theory. Topics include the Inner City Committee for Rail Relocation, Core Area Initiative, Inner City Voice, and Community Inquiry Into Inner City Revitalization.
Experimental Course - This course is offered on a trial basis to gauge interest in the topic. Students who
successfully complete this course receive credit as indicated.
UIC-3050 (3) Immigration and the Inner City (3 hrs Lecture)
This course explores both long-standing and recent questions about immigration and the inner city. Topics include the impact on contemporary inner-city communities of immigration; globalization; international and transnational social and economic developments; and civil wars, internal wars, and violent conflicts. Students' inquiry into the relationship between immigration and the inner city involves an exploration of both early and contemporary discourse on the subject.
UIC-3060 (3) Confronting Racism in the Inner City (3 hrs Lecture)
This course helps students understand what racism is, how it's expressed in Winnipeg's inner city and what factors contribute to its existence. The course provides practical tools for confronting racism, awareness and skill-building around dealing with internalized racism, and guidelines to becoming an ally with those experiencing the brunt of oppression that racism creates. The course emphasizes student participation and discussion and in-depth analysis of ideologies that underlie race-based practices, specifically with respect to Indigenous populations. Restriction: Students who have credit for UIC-3100 when the topic was Confronting Racism cannot take this course for credit.
UIC-3100 (3) Issues in Urban and Inner-City Studies (3 hrs Lecture)
This course is offered on an occasional basis to focus the discussion of students and community resource people on specific issues that are of current interest to academics and practitioners in the field of Urban and Inner-City Studies. The topic will vary from year to year. Please consult the department about specific topics.
UIC-3125 (3) The Intergenerational Legacy of Residential Schools (3 hrs Lecture)
The residential school system was a mandatory school system for all Aboriginal children. The objective of these schools was to extinguish Aboriginal culture and language from the Canadian landscape. The first school opened in the late 1800's and the last school closed in the 1980's. The result from this long history is a legacy that impacts all Canadians and Aboriginal peoples. This course examines the impact of the residential school system in a variety of areas such as the loss of language and culture, loss of parenting skills, (especially mothering), as well as settler and Aboriginal relations. Cross-listed: IS-3125(3). Restrictions: Students may not hold credit for this course and IS-3125. Requisite Courses: IS-1016 and IS-1017, or the former IS-1015 [prerequisite(s)].
UIC-3210 (3) Community Organizing for Social Justice (3 hrs Seminar/Discussion)
This course examines a range of strategies for promoting change in urban settings. Students study theories and historical examples of various kinds of social justice-focused community organizing. Local, national and international cases are examined. Examples may include, but are not limited to: neighbourhood-level organizing; feminist approaches to organizing; youth-led organizing, Indigenous models of organizing; forms of civil disobedience; policy advocacy and lobbying; and the use of the media in community organizing. Cross-listed: IDS-3210(3). Restrictions: Students may not hold credit for this course and IDS-3210.
UIC-3220 (6) Community Advocacy Internship (3 hrs Apprenticeship/Internship/Practicum | 3 hrs Lecture)
This experiential learning course provides students an opportunity to put advocacy theories into practice through an internship with a community-based organization. Prior to the beginning of the course, the instructor works with students to identify a placement aligned with their specific advocacy interests and acts as a liaison between the placement supervisor and students. In addition to attending an internship one day (6 hrs.) per week, students participate in a monthly seminar led by the instructor. Students write reflection papers on their workplace experiences in relation to advocacy theories and prepare a final paper and class presentation. Restriction: Students may not hold credit for this course and UIC-3001(6). Requisite Courses: UIC-2210 [prerequisite(s)].
UIC-3230 (6) Inner-City Work Study (Apprenticeship/Internship/Practicum | 6 hrs Seminar/Discussion)
Inner-City Work Study is a summer intensive course that brings students from diverse backgrounds together to work and learn in the inner city. In the spirit of reconciliation and building bridges toward a city free from racism and exclusion, students explore theories of community practice toward transformative change, guided by anti-oppressive and social justice frameworks. Students put theory into practice through a paid 4-month summer internship with a community-based non-profit organization. The intensive work/study program provides students the unique opportunity to combine scholarly learning with summer employment where they will gain valuable experience while contribute to the inner-city community. Restrictions: Department Permission Required. Requisite Courses: Students will have completed a minimum of 3-credit hours in Urban and Inner-City Studies course [prerequisite(s)].
UIC-3240 (3) Poverty and the Law (3 hrs Lecture)
This course focuses on poverty law as it affects the individual and the community. It offers the student insight into the legal and administrative regimes governing the lives of persons of low or modest income. From the theoretical and practical perspective, it explains how certain laws may act as barriers to the full participation of disadvantaged persons in a free and democratic society. Finally, the course examines how the law can be used to advance the interests of persons of low and modest incomes. Note: This course was formerly numbered UIC-3040 and had the same subject material. Restrictions: Students may not hold credit for this course and UIC-3040.
UIC-3330 (3) Solidarity and Social Economy in the City (3 hrs Lecture)
Social economy encompasses cooperatives, commercially-oriented social enterprises, voluntary organizations and charities, community organizations and neighbourhood groups. It stretches across to the domestic economy of families. This course examines the marginalized or invisible value in largely non-market and non-monetized activities in the city -- the informal and autonomous ways in which we meet our needs. It introduces models of welfare pluralism and examines highly productive activities that are based on democratic solidarity. Cross-listed: UIC-4330(3).
Restrictions: Students may not hold credit for this course and UIC-4330. Requisite Courses: UIC-2001 or permission of the instructor [prerequisite(s)].
UIC-3430 (3) Housing and the Neighbourhood (3 hrs Lecture)
This course examines the complexity of shelter environments within the urban landscape. The focus is on the North American housing market, the history of housing, and the ways in which traditional and non-traditional markets are defined and understood. The unique characteristics of the modern city are examined as they are manifested in homelessness, marginal housing forms, shelter-induced poverty, suburban decline, and inner-city issues. Emphasis is also placed on current/historical policy and program responses to housing-related issues at the neighbourhood, municipal, provincial and federal level. Cross-listed: GEOG-3430(3). Restrictions: Students may not hold credit for this course and GEOG-3430. Requisite Courses: UIC-1001 or GEOG-1102 [prerequisite(s)].
UIC-3603 (3) Winnipeg and the Environment: A Case Study Approach (3 hrs Lecture)
This course focuses on the particular problems facing the City of Winnipeg in its interaction with the environment. Students are required to participate in an in-class strategic planning session to select issues and concerns that become the case study content of the course. Municipal planning initiatives are used to select the issues, to define their scope, and to propose policy and program solutions. The course format involves small interactive group discussions led by the students and facilitated by the instructor. A high level of student participation is expected. Cross-listed: ENV-3603(3). Restrictions: Students may not hold credit for this course and ENV-3603. Requisite Courses: ENV-1600 or the former ENV-2600 or permission of the instructor [prerequisite(s)].
UIC-4001 (3 or 6) Directed Readings in Urban and Inner City Studies (3 hrs Directed Reading)
This course provides the students with the opportunity to identify a topic of interest in Urban and Inner-City Studies and to examine the topic in depth under the supervision of a professor who has expertise in that area. This course may be taken more than once for credit if the topics vary. Students may take a maximum of twelve (12) credit hours in directed readings courses. Note: Permission of the instructor is required.
UIC-4010 (3) Urban Poverty (3 hrs Seminar/Discussion) Poverty in urban centres has become a particularly serious problem in the late 20th-early 21st centuries. It differs, in many important respects, from the urban poverty of earlier generations. What are its distinguishing features? Why has it emerged at the time and in the form that it has? What modes of explanation can best guide us to a better understanding of this poverty? This course attempts to answer such questions, examining some theoretical works that address contemporary urban poverty. Requisite Courses: A minimum of 6 credit hours in UIC
courses or permission of the instructor [prerequisite(s)].
UIC-4020 (3) Inner-City Workshop (3 hrs Seminar/Discussion)
This course combines theory and practice in the study of the dynamics of low-income inner-city communities. The course includes an examination of some recent literature on the phenomenon of low-income inner cities. It also features a practicum placement -- three hours per week -- with an inner-city community-based organization, and a term paper based on primary research on an inner-city topic, preferably related to the practicum assignment. Students develop research skills in a hands-on fashion, while being exposed to the practical realities of day-to-day life in the inner city. Restrictions: Department Permission Required. Requisite Courses: A minimum of 6 credit hours in Urban and Inner City Studies courses [prerequisite(s)].
UIC-4330 (3) Solidarity and Social Economy in the City (3 hrs Lecture)
Social economy encompasses cooperatives, commercially-oriented social enterprises, voluntary organizations and charities, community organizations and neighbourhood groups. It stretches across to the domestic economy of families. This course examines the marginalized or invisible value in largely non-market and non-monetized activities in the city -- the informal and autonomous ways in which we meet our needs. It introduces models of welfare pluralism and examines highly productive activities that are based on democratic solidarity. Cross-listed: UIC-3330(3). Restrictions: Instructor Permission Required. Students may not hold credit for this course and UIC-3330. Requisite Courses: UIC-2001 or permission of the instructor [prerequisite(s)].
UIC-4445 (3) Urban Indigenous Seminar (3 hrs Lecture)
This seminar examines selected topics dealing with urban Indigenous issues. Topics may include the viability of urban Indigenous governance, urban reserves, and Indigenous education and economic development issues in the inner city. The issue of differing conceptions of Indigenous representation and identity held by various Indigenous organizations is a particularly challenging and contentious issue in the urban context. The portability and applicability of Indigenous and treaty rights in the urban environment may also be explored. We may also analyze the unique problems created by the range of jurisdictional responsibilities towards Indigenous people in the urban environment. Cross-listed: ANTH-4145(3) and IS-4445(3). Restrictions: Honours Form Required. Students may not hold credit for this course and ANTH-4145 | IS-4445. Requisite Courses: A minimum of 6 credit hours in UIC courses or permission of the instructor [prerequisite(s)].
UIC-4520 (3) Theories of Urban Poverty (3 hrs Lecture)
This seminar analyzes and evaluates the works of various social scientists who have written about urban poverty in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The course addresses issues such as the causes of today's urban poverty, the ways in which urban poverty today differs from earlier forms, the relationship between urban poverty and global economic forces, and the relationship between urban poverty and drugs, gangs and violence. Writers studied may vary from year to year. Restrictions: Instructor Permission Required. Students may not hold credit for this course and POL-4520.