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Melissa Wolfe
Nancy Roche
Writing 1010-013
November 24, 2014
Literacy Practices: City and Metropolitan Planning
The word practice as we have studied it in our writing 1010 class has been redefined in
regards to literacy. It has more meaning than its operational definition in that it incorporates
cultures and the ways that literacy is used by them as well as lifestyles and relationships between
people. Barton and Hamilton said that, Practices are shaped by social rules which regulate the
use and distribution of texts, prescribing who may produce and have access to them (8). Here I
study the literacy practices involved in the City and Metropolitan Planning department at the
University of Utah. Through researching the overall structure of the department, broader social
goals and cultural practices of the community, events which are mediated by texts, and the major
texts and practices used in the department, one can see that literacy practices are finely tuned by
the social groups in which they are involved.
The City and Metropolitan Planning department here at the University of Utah is
structured in a hierarchical manner with the head faculty at the top followed by the auxiliary
faculty and then the general staff. The head faculty consists of the associate dean, chair professor,
assistant professors/lecturers, associate professors, and adjunct professors, all of whom have
PhD's except one who has a MArch. The auxiliary faculty consists of similarly structured
professors and instructors who do not have PhDs or other big name degrees. The general staff is
made up of advisors, office assistants, system managers, public relation associates, budget
managers, and other people who are involved in keeping the department up and running. The city

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and metropolitan planning department at the U is ranked number five in the U.S. by average total
citations per faculty member.
The city and metropolitan planning department at the U seeks to enhance the vitality and
health of communities, regions, and cities in and around salt lake county through place-based
approaches to building in harmony with nature. There are city and metropolitan planning
departments at different schools and various facilities throughout the country that also look to do
the same thing. The practices or cultural values remain the same and are unified through
magazines, articles, and other texts throughout the country but vary by location due to differing
environmental and city factors.
There are major events, two of which are highlighted on the university of utahs website,
that are mediated by texts which discuss the over-all goals and plans for the city and
metropolitan planning department. The first major event that the department annually takes part
in and hosts is called the Mayors Symposium. The event is mediated by a schedule of the times
that the speakers and activities will lecture and take place and the material that the speakers bring
to share with the group of attendees. The second major event that the department highlights is
called the Center for the Living City where the Salt Lake Workshop and Westside studio bring
together a range of students that work with members of the community to promote increased
civic engagement among communities. The text which mediates this event is a website which is
again, beautifully designed and has a range of semiotics.
The major texts that are involved in the city and metropolitan planning department range
anywhere from textbooks to magazines and informative websites. Many of the important texts
can be found in the departments database which mostly includes articles and informative essays
about current or old projects and the history of architecture and other related subjects written by

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a large span of the communities members. Almost all of the major texts that I have studied in the
department do not seek to impress with big words and hard to understand sentences and use a
range of semiotics, acronyms, and often include section headers and bullet points.
The overall practice of the City and Metropolitan Planning department that I have studied
seems to be mediated by texts which are written to be easily understood and used by students and
other members of the community. Literacy practices vary based on social groups and use
different types of texts to inform members of said social group. The City and Metropolitan
Planning department at the University of Utah demonstrates that literacy practices are unique to
their community through the overall structure of the department, broader social goals and
cultural practices of the community, events which are mediated by texts, and the major texts and
practices used in the department.