This course will study the interrelationship of urban history with narratives of trauma. In what was one positioned in relationship to the other in scientific studies, political discourse and popular imagination. Prior to WTC attack, most of these sites were not in the United States, but in Germany, Africa or Near East. The course will feature several visitors who work in the field, including experts on the rebuilding of Berlin and Beirut, and a psychotherapist who works with trauma victims. We will study the different definitions of what is or is not a trauma and think through recent events to see in what way art and architecture can - or perhaps cannot - address the issue of September 11.