The weekly seminar and two research methods workshops opened our field of scholarly inquiry to explore broad topics of urban theory and praxis in the context of Los Angeles, a city that is paradigmatic as a site of social upheaval, political resistance and progressivism, demographic change, and cultural experimentation and expression. In dialogue with the city’s storied past is its ever-changing present; it is in our moment of social, political, and environmental crisis when we must turn to the challenges Los Angeles faces and propose new possibilities for our collective future. Such a task calls for an urban humanist approach that brings multiple perspectives, disciplines, and positions together through a collaborative, scholarly project. An urban humanist approach also explicitly invokes praxis, that is, the deployment of theory through action intended to make the world a better place in some small way. When we talk about urban praxis, its meaning is broad enough to encompass architecture and planning but also arts interventions, exhibitions, journalism, narratives, poetry, and activism. Praxis emphasizes that urban humanists are university scholars who engage their real-world agency.
