Event Registration
Topophilia, a 5-session Workshop with Lena Affridi
Admission
- $200.00
Location
Summary
Wednesdays, Oct. 22- Nov.19
7-9pm ET
Virtual
Your landlord is a monster, your apartment is falling apart, your job doesn't cover the bills, the mayor is a clown, every other block is vacant or filled with private equity owned chains. Every time you pass by a Capital One Bank Cafe you ask why you're still here, what's still left for you, but when you think about leaving you can't figure out where else to go. The myth of the city begs us to ask: Why do we love what we hate? Topophilia, or the affective bond with one's environment, dictates many decisions we make. This 5 week generative workshop will explore the crushing curse of place focused romance. While we will spend most of our time reading about New York, participants can explore complicated relationships with any city or place of their choosing. Our conversations will be rooted in a basic framework of urban political economy and we will read work across genres and disciplines from writers such as Samuel Delany, Lauren Berlant, Jose Marti, Kitty Tsui, Yi-Fu Tuan, Joan Nestle, and Mike Davis. While this class will be held over Zoom, there may be opportunity to meet in person for a session or two depending on interest and circumstance. We will create space to share, challenge, and unlock together in collaboration.
Bio: Lena Pervez Afridi is a writer and trained city planner from Queens, New York. Lena is an editor at Pinko magazine and their writing and research has been featured in outlets including the Nation, the New Inquiry, Al Jazeera, and Rolling Stone. Lena holds an MFA from Pratt Institute and an MRP from Cornell University.
Event Registration is closed.
7-9pm ET
Virtual
Your landlord is a monster, your apartment is falling apart, your job doesn't cover the bills, the mayor is a clown, every other block is vacant or filled with private equity owned chains. Every time you pass by a Capital One Bank Cafe you ask why you're still here, what's still left for you, but when you think about leaving you can't figure out where else to go. The myth of the city begs us to ask: Why do we love what we hate? Topophilia, or the affective bond with one's environment, dictates many decisions we make. This 5 week generative workshop will explore the crushing curse of place focused romance. While we will spend most of our time reading about New York, participants can explore complicated relationships with any city or place of their choosing. Our conversations will be rooted in a basic framework of urban political economy and we will read work across genres and disciplines from writers such as Samuel Delany, Lauren Berlant, Jose Marti, Kitty Tsui, Yi-Fu Tuan, Joan Nestle, and Mike Davis. While this class will be held over Zoom, there may be opportunity to meet in person for a session or two depending on interest and circumstance. We will create space to share, challenge, and unlock together in collaboration.
Bio: Lena Pervez Afridi is a writer and trained city planner from Queens, New York. Lena is an editor at Pinko magazine and their writing and research has been featured in outlets including the Nation, the New Inquiry, Al Jazeera, and Rolling Stone. Lena holds an MFA from Pratt Institute and an MRP from Cornell University.