One of the fundamental aspects of modernity is the persistent transformation of society and space – and that these changes are always experienced unevenly. Race and gender serve as particularly poignant markers of this unevenness. While cities are intrinsically sites of heterogeneity, certain subjectivities get privileged and normalized while others are pushed to the margins – of space and society. In this course, we will study spaces and modes of visual representation that bring to life racialized and gendered experiences of urban modernity. We will look at some of the most iconic urban sites of the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries in regards to the framing of ‘certain’ subjectivities – particularly female, black and LGBTQ bodies. We will examine a range of architectural spaces, from nineteenth century Parisian arcades to high-rise public housing to ‘cruising sites’ such as New York City’s Chelsea piers. We will look at different art forms, including painting, film and television, and public art. Using these spaces and representations, we will examine the production of gendered and racialized tropes that dictate modes of belonging and exclusion in the modern city.