| HIST A347: American Urban History | Tuesdays, 5:45-8:20 pm |
| Etan Diamond | 274-3826 |
| The Polis Center | ediamond@iupui.edu |
| 1200 Waterway Blvd., Suite 100 |
Office Hours
I do not have formal office hours. I am usually in my office, however, from 9 am to 3:30 pm, and am happy to meet with you there. Please call me or email me to make an appointment.
Course Themes
Since the 1700s, cities and their metropolitan regions have become the primary environment in which people experience American society. Cities are centers of commerce and culture, politics and power. They are the destinations to which rural migrants and foreign immigrants travel. They are at once the embodiment of the "individualist" American dream and the preeminent symbol of mass consumer culture. What has been the American urban experience over the past three centuries? How have cities changed and how have they stayed the same? Most important, what can we learn from the urban experience?
This course provides an overview of American urban history since the eighteenth century. But more than just a survey of key events in the history of American cities, this course teaches students how to "read" a city, how to understand what the physical and social landscapes tell us about cities. Through reading about the broader urban experience in American history, and through first-hand observation of Indianapolis, students will gain skills that will enable them to learn about their own metropolitan environments.
Prerequisites
This course has no formal prerequisites. Nevertheless, I expect students to have a basic knowledge of American history.
Required books (available in bookstore)
Chudacoff, Howard P., and Judith E. Smith. The Evolution of American Urban Society. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2000.
Garreau, Joel. Edge City: Life on the New Frontier. New York: Doubleday, 1991.
Warner, Sam Bass, Jr. Streetcar Suburbs: The Process of Growth in Boston, 1870-1900. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1962.
Sugrue, Thomas. The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality in Postwar Detroit. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1998.
Use of Oncourse online course format
This course will use the Oncourse on-line course structure provided by Indiana University. In Oncourse, students will find links to all reading assignments (except for textbook and assigned books) plus all book review assignments and neighborhood project assignments.
To access Oncourse, go to http://www.oncourse.iu.edu. Follow the links to HISTA347. This syllabus is listed under the "Syllabus" button. Individual assignments are listed under the "Schedule" button. Grades are available through the online gradebook. (Please note that no one else will be able to see your grades—unless you give someone else your password.)
Although all reading assignments are accessible through the Oncourse links, I urge you to print them out and read them on a paper copy. It is far easier to read a paper text carefully than it is to read a screen-based text. Plus, by printing the assignment out, you can have it in front of you for reference during our classroom discussion.
Some readings are available on ERROL, the IUPUI electronic reserves. These can be accessed also through Oncourse. You might need to enter in the login (HISTA347) and password (A347) to access the readings.
I will also use Oncourse to communicate with the class. Therefore, you should check the course website frequently to find out information or updates during the week. (For example, if class were to be cancelled for some emergency, I would post this on the Announcement page.)
Assignments
1. Readings. The class will consist primarily of in-class discussion of the readings. Therefore, come to class prepared to discuss the assigned readings. I do not expect a brilliant comment from every student every time he or she opens their mouth. Nonetheless, because participation is 10 percent of the final grade, speaking up in class will help. 2. Reaction/Response papers. Students will turn in four 1-page reaction/response papers during the semester. For each reading assignment, I will post on Oncourse two or three questions for students to answer. Students will bring two (2) copies of their paper to class, one to be turned in and one to be used during discussion. Papers may be turned in on: 26 September, 3 October, 17 October, 31 October, 14 November 3. Book reviews. Students will review three books during the semester. Details for the book review assignments are provided on page 6 of this syllabus. 4. Indianapolis Neighborhood Team Project. Teams of students will conduct in-depth studies of Indianapolis neighborhoods. This project will include historical, demographic, and observational analysis of a neighborhood and will culminate in a final presentation. Details for this project are provided beginning on page 7 of this syllabus.
*****I WILL ACCEPT NO LATE ASSIGNMENTS****
| Grading | ||
| 1. | Class attendance/participation | 10% |
| 2. | Reaction/response papers | 10% |
| 3. | Book review 1 | 10% |
| 4. | Book review 2 | 10% |
| 5. | Book review 3 | 10% |
| 6. | Indianapolis Neighborhood Team Project | 50% |
| 6a. | Spatial analysis | 10% |
| 6b. | Historical contextual analysis | 10% |
| 6c. | Demographic analysis | 10% |
| 6d. | Final Team presentation | 20% ____ |
| Total Grade | 100% |
Schedule
| Week 1: 29 August | |
| Introduction | |
| Week 2: 5 September | |
| Contemporary Cities | |
| Chudacoff and Smith, The Evolution of American Society, Chapter 10 (297-320) | |
ON ONCOURSE: |
Louis Wirth, "Urbanism as a Way of Life," American Journal of Sociology 44, no. 1 (July 1938). 1-24. |
| Jennifer Bradley, "Private Suburbs, Public Cities," The American Prospect 11, no. 13 (22 May 2000). | |
| Nick Gillespie, "Horizontal Cities," Reason (July 2000). | |
| ****Neighborhood Project: Assignment of neighborhoods**** | |
| Week 3: 12 September | Contemporary Cities |
| Joel Garreau, Edge City: Life on the New Frontier (New York: Doubleday, 1991). | |
| ****Assignment due: Book Review #1**** | |
| Week 4: 19 September | Methods in Studying the City: Mental Mapping and City Imageability: |
ON ONCOURSE: |
Kevin Lynch, The Image of the City (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1960), Chapters 1 and 3. |
| ****Assignment due: Neighborhood Spatial Analysis **** | |
| Week 5: 26 September | Colonial Cities: 1600-1776 |
| Chudacoff and Smith, The Evolution of American Urban Society, chapter 1 (1-37) | |
ON ONCOURSE: |
Gary Nash, "The Social Evolution of Pre Industrial American Cities, 1700-1820," Journal of Urban History 13 (February 1987): 115-45. |
| ****Assignment due: Reaction/Response Paper **** | |
| Week 6: 3 October | Early National Cities: 1776-1860 |
| Chudacoff and Smith, The Evolution of American Urban Society, chapters 2-3 (38-85) | |
ON ONCOURSE: |
Mary Ryan, "The American Parade: Representations of the Nineteenth-Century Social Order," in The New Cultural History ed. Lynn Hunt (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989), 131-53. |
| ****Assignment due: Reaction/Response Paper **** | |
| Week 7: 10 October | Methods in Studying the City: Local History |
| ****Assignment due: Neighborhood Historical Contextual Analysis**** | |
| Week 8: 17 October | Industrializing Cities: 1850-1920 |
| Chudacoff and Smith, The Evolution of American Urban Society, chapters 4-5 (86-156) | |
ON ONCOURSE: |
Robert Barrows, "Hurrying Hoosiers," Social Science History 5, no. 2 (Spring 1981): 197-222. |
| ****Assignment due: Reaction/Response Paper **** | |
| Week 9: 24 October | Early Suburbs: 1850-1920 |
| Sam Bass Warner, Jr., Streetcar Suburbs: The Process of Growth in Boston, 1870-1900 (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1962). | |
| ****Assignment due: Book Review #2**** | |
| Week 10: 31 October | Urban Reform: 1850-1920 |
| Chudacoff and Smith, The Evolution of American Urban Society, chapters 6-7 (157-211) | |
ON ONCOURSE: |
Ralph E. Luker, "Missions, Institutional Churches, and Settlement Houses: The Black Experience, 1885-1910," Journal of Negro History 69, nos. 3/4. (Summer-Autumn 1984), 101-13 |
| ****Assignment due: Reaction/Response Paper **** | |
| Week 11: 7 November | Methods in Studying the City: Demographic Analysis |
ON ONCOURSE: |
Otis Dudley Duncan and Beverly Duncan, "Residential Distribution and Occupational Stratification," American Journal of Sociology 60, no. 5 (March 1955): 493-503. |
| John Modell, "Family and Fertility on the Indiana Frontier, 1820," American Quarterly 23, no. 5 (December 1971): 615-34. | |
| ****Assignment due: Neighborhood Demographic Analysis **** | |
| Week 12: 14 November | Class, Ethnicity, Gender, and Space: 1920-1980 |
| Chudacoff and Smith, The Evolution of American Urban Society, chapters 8-9 (212-296) | |
ON ONCOURSE: |
Lizabeth Cohen, "Encountering Mass Culture at the Grassroots: The Experience of Chicago Workers in the 1920s," American Quarterly 41, no. 1 (March 1989): 6-33. |
| Veronica Strong-Boag, "Home Dreams: Women and the Suburban Experiment in Canada, 1945-1960," Canadian Historical Review 72, no. 4 (1991): 471-504. | |
| ****Assignment due: Reaction/Response Paper **** | |
| Week 13: 21 November | Race and Politics: 1920-1980 |
| Thomas Sugrue, The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality in Postwar Detroit (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1998). | |
| ****Assignment due: Book Review #3 **** | |
| Week 14: 28 November | No Class: Neighborhood Team Presentation preparation |
| Week 15: 5 December | Neighborhood team final presentations |
Book Review Assignments
1. Descriptive book review. Due: 12 September at beginning of class.
Read Edge City by Joel Garreau.
In no more than two (2) pages:
Describe the overall structure of the book.
Describe the main topic and theme of each chapter.
Explain the author’s primary argument in the book.
2. Analytical book review. Due: 24 October at beginning of class
Read Streetcar Suburbs by Sam Bass Warner.
In no more than three (3) pages:
Provide all the information required in the previous assignment PLUS
Explain the author’s central research questions.
Describe the methods he uses for his analysis.
Describe the structure of his argument. (Try to reconstruct an outline of the argument, with thesis statements and evidence.)
3. Critical book review. Due: 21 November at beginning of class
Read The Origins of the Urban Crisis by Thomas Sugrue.
In no more than five (5) pages:
Provide all the information required in the previous assignments PLUS
Assess whether the author persuasively argued his thesis.
Assess whether he used his evidence well.
Explain why he did or did not convince you of his argument.
Indianapolis Neighborhood Project
Project overview
This project allows students to study a metropolitan neighborhood in depth through historical, demographic, and spatial analysis.
Project goals
To enable students to understand the complex nature of neighborhoods
To help students see how a neighborhood’s past shapes its present form
To introduce students to some of the classic writings about cities
To give students the skills to "read" their own neighborhoods and cities
Project components
Grade breakdown
The project is worth 60 percent of your semester grade. The 60 percent is composed of the individual components as follows:
Assignment of Neighborhood (no grade given)
Spatial analysis 10 percent +
Analysis of neighborhood in metropolitan context 10 percent +
Historical demographic analysis 10 percent +
Neighborhood team final presentation 20 percent = 50 percent
1. Assignment of Neighborhood (5 September)
At the beginning of class, I will pass around a sign-up sheet listing several neighborhoods in the Indianapolis metropolitan area. Please choose one neighborhood that you would like to study during the semester. I will allow a maximum of four students per neighborhood.
2. Spatial analysis (due at beginning of class, 19 September)
Read the Kevin Lynch reading for 19 September. After reading this assignment, visit your neighborhood. Spend at least an hour walking and driving around.
In 2-3 pages, please describe your neighborhood in terms of its imageability. Does this place "look" like a neighborhood? What visual cues do you find there? Do the formal neighborhood boundaries correspond with the actual landscape? Does the neighborhood have key landmarks? Paths? Nodes? Edges? Districts?
This short essay should present an ARGUMENT about the neighborhood. You must present your essay in a way that tries to convince me of your point of view. Give examples. Use your best descriptive abilities to persuade me of your impressions about the neighborhood’s imageability.
This assignment is to be turned in INDIVIDUALLY by each member of the neighborhood team. Each person should visit the neighborhood individually and come to one’s own conclusions.
3. Historical contextual analysis (due beginning of class, 10 October)
This assignment is based on the following two items:
Historical narrative for your neighborhood available on Oncourse.
Five representative newspaper articles on your neighborhood from different decadesAfter reading your neighborhood’s historical narrative, think about the two or three major historical trends that best describe your neighborhood. Examples of these include racial turnover, highway construction, ethnic or religious issues, urban renewal, suburban development, school closings or consolidations, political realignment (such as Unigov), or industrial change.
With these themes in mind, go to the Indiana State Library. Look up your neighborhood in the Newspaper Index located in the Indiana Room. Choose four articles from different decades that seem to best talk about the themes. Find the actual articles on microfilm. (The Indiana Room has the actual microfilms there with readers.) Read them. Take notes on them.
Then, in 3 or 4 pages, discuss what you think are the most important historical themes in your neighborhood. Provide concrete examples of these historical themes using the newspaper articles. Explain how the neighborhood has changed over the past 20 years, 50 years, and even 100 years.
This short essay should present an ARGUMENT about the neighborhood. You must present your essay in a way that tries to convince me of your point of view. Give actual examples, and not just assertions. Your essay must also provide exact citations of the articles.
This assignment is to be turned in INDIVIDUALLY by each member of the neighborhood team. I do not mind if you discuss your ideas with your other team members. That is, feel free to collaborate and brainstorm about your neighborhood and its historical evolution. Each of you, however, must write your own essay.
4. Historical demographic analysis (due at beginning of class, 7 November)
This assignment is based on your analysis of the historical census data provided for your neighborhood on Oncourse.
In a 4-6 page report, present an argument about your neighborhood’s demographics. What have been the key demographic elements in your neighborhood? Were there any major demographic transitions? How has the neighborhood changed demographically?
This short report should present an ARGUMENT about the neighborhood from a demographic and statistical perspective. You must present your essay in a way that tries to convince me of your point of view. Feel free to include graph or tables to make your point. I envision this assignment to be less of an "essay" and more of a "report" that presents the data with your interpretation of that data.
This assignment is to be turned in COLLECTIVELY by each team. Therefore, you should collaborate with each other and arrive at a consensus opinion on what the historical census data mean.
5. Team final presentation (last class, 5 December)
In this final presentation, your neighborhood team will present to the class a 20-minute report on your neighborhood. The presentation should include all of the elements from the previous assignments, including:
- Spatial analysis: where is the neighborhood and what does it look like?
- Historical contextual analysis: what have been the major historical themes in this neighborhood? How has the neighborhood changed over time?
- Demographic analysis: who lives there and what do they do? How has that changed over time?
In addition, answer the more general question:
What does knowing all this information about your neighborhood tell the audience (me) about Indianapolis?
Structure your presentation as you would a business/corporate presentation. You may be as high-tech or low-tech as you choose. You will be graded, however, on the style and method of the presentation as much as the content. Therefore, do not mumble your words, do not fumble your papers, and do not appear disorganized and unprepared.