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The Week's Work

American Studies 334
Urban America
Roger Williams University
T, TH 12:30 -1:50
GHH 105
Fall, 2009
Michael R. H. Swanson, Ph. D
Office: GWH 215
Hours: T, 11:00-12:30
M, W, F,  1:00-2:00
Phone:   (401) 254-3230
E-mail:  amst334urban@gmail.com
For Tuesday, November 10,
Read, in Ford,
Preface, ix - xiii
Introduction, Merging the Traditions of Space and Time 1-10
1.Downtown Buildings: The role of the Skyscraper in Shaping the
American Central Business District.  10 - 64
Here’s how I want you to approach Chapter 1. 
1.Observe the typography.  Notice the black type.  Notice there are Two levels of black type.  Concentrate only on the outer level (the level which extends beyond the text into the margins).  If I count about right, there are twenty of these.  Read them to decide which of the sections you need to pay attention to in this course.  Do you need to know that the Central Business District arose in London?  Probably not.  Do you need to know different definitions of downtown?  Probably.
2.As you look at those outer levels–think about whether they have any relationship to some of the ideas Jacobs has presented in her book.  Then do the same thing for the subheadings which are flush with the body of the type.  Are any of these self-explanatory?  If so, do you need to read the rest of the text carefully?  (Remember you’ll not be taking an in-class test on any of this.
3.There are eleven pictures in this chapter.  Read the captions and look at them.  Can you create a hypothesis why each particular picture was included?  (The one nasty thing about this book is that the pictures aren’t numbered.  You’ll need to remember them by page number).  Think of the pictures as aesthetic objects as well as illustrations.  Is there something attractive to your eye about the image each presents? 
4.Now read those parts of the chapter this preliminary investigation seems to indicate you need to read, and skip the rest.  In class on Thursday, we’ll compare analyses.

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For Thursday, November 12,
Under Construction:   Stay Tuned
Judging by the number of e-mails I've been answering, this paper has been more challenging for some than I anticipated.  That, plus the World Series conclusion/celebration last Wednesday has led me to an executive decision to delay discussion of the first Ford Chapter until today. 

Congratulations to any Yankee Fans in the house (I had to put on my good loser face to type that).  I'll have something for Phillies fanciers to watch in class on the 5th to console them.