Call for Visiting Professor in “Contemporary City: Descriptions and Projects”

PHOTO – Courtesy Giovanna Silva: New Al Monshah, Egitto

Department of Architecture and Urban Studies, Politecnico di Milano

Deadline for submission: June 5, 2023

The Visiting professorship programme aims at strengthening the internationalization programme of the School of Architecture, Urban Planning and Construction Engineering and of the Department of Architecture and Urban Studies, by welcoming an international scholar for one semester term. The visiting professor will be in charge of lecturing one full course at the School for the period of her/his visiting position, developing autonomous research activity at the Department of Architecture and Urban Studies, joining seminars and academic venues. In particular, the visiting professor will be in charge of lecturing the course Contemporary City: Descriptions and Projects.

The Course

Contemporary City: Descriptions and Projects is a course offered in the second semester to the students enrolled in the first year of the Master of Science in Urban Planning and Policy Design. The course will be taught in English, it equals 10 ECTS credits and consists in 8 hours of teaching per week, for a total of about 100 hours. It is scheduled for the spring semester (mid February 2024 – mid June 2024) and has an attendance of about 80 students. Two dates for final examinations of attending students shall be fixed in June-July 2024.
The course aims at analysing and discussing core issues of contemporary urban planning and design with reference to a multi-scalar and interdisciplinary approach. The analysis of major changes in the European and/or non-European urban realm may consider a critical discussion of new urban landscapes and development patterns, the emergence of new city forms, the issues at stake in historical city centres, problems and dimensions of contemporary practices in the domain of planning and designing contemporary cities, taking into account challenges to cities and urban environments, such as digitalisation, climate change, inequalities. A complex understanding of contemporary planning challenges shall be presented, considering the impact of regional, demographic and socio-economic changes on urban design, urban policy and programmes. A critical reference to a set of international case studies, as well as a critical focus on the role of the digital dimension in contemporary urban development will be very appreciated.

The overall compensation for teaching this course is 17.000€. Depending on the type of contract that you will choose and your tax profile (e.g. existing convention to avoid double taxation between Italy and your country of residence), taxation on the fee may vary, typically between 22% and 46%.

The School

The Politecnico di Milano is one of the leading technical universities in Europe. Founded in 1863, it is the largest school of architecture, design and engineering in Italy (www.polimi.it).

The Master of Science in Urban Planning and Policy Design is a renowned programme, which is taught in English since 2006 at the School of Architecture, Urban Planning and Construction Engineering (www.auic.polimi.it). Politecnico di Milano ranks 10th in the world in the field of Architecture and Built Environment according to the 2023 QS World University Ranking. The proportion of international students is relevant and produces a stimulating environment both for teaching and learning. The MSc Programme is rooted in a polytechnic tradition, bridging urban design, regional studies and social sciences. The programme aims at developing a wide scientific and professional education in urban planning and policy making. The aim of the programme is to train professionals who can deal with the multiple and complex issues of the contemporary policy agenda of cities and regions. Students who graduated from the Master of Science Programme usually work for international organizations, local governments, research institutes, real estate companies, private offices. The courses are held at the central City Campus Leonardo in Milan. The Programme is currently directed by Prof. Carolina Pacchi. Qualified research staff and Phd students with significant international and professional experiences are involved in the tutorship and teaching activity.

Directed by Prof. Massimo Bricocoli, the Department of Architecture and Urban Studies (www.dastu.polimi.it) is the second largest Department of Politecnico di Milano and the largest in the field of Architecture; furthermore it is also the main academic research centre in Italy for urban and spatial planning issues, enjoying in a well-established international network of centres of excellence.

Submission of application

The visiting professorship programme is open to highly qualified international scholars in the discipline of urban planning and related fields (e.g. urban studies, architecture, urban design, geography). Applicants must be affiliated with an academic or research institution outside Italy. In order to state an interest in participating, the applicants should send the following documents (PDF format):

1. Application form
2. Complete Curriculum Vitae
3. List of publications
4. Letter of motivation
5. Scanned copy of your Passport/ID
6. A proposed course outline that includes: aims and contents, general structure, methodology, proposed readings and eventual side activities. Within the proposed course, at least some teaching modules of flipped classroom and/or blended learning are required as a compulsory condition to be admitted to the selection.

The application and the set of files shall be sent to the address: dastu@polimi.it with the title/object “APPLICATION FOR VISITING PROFESSORSHIP DASTU 2023/2024 – CONTEMPORARY CITY”. An email acknowledging the receipt of the application will be sent.

For any further information, please contact dastu@polimi.it with the object “CONTEMPORARY CITY – VISITING PROFESSORSHIP INFORMATION”.

Deadline for submission is June 5, 2023. A short list of selected candidates will be made by June 7 and a Skype colloquium will be scheduled in the following week. The final results of the selection will be available by June 30.

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