American Studies 371.01

Urban America

Roger Williams University

GHH 108

M, Th,  2:00 - 3:20 p.m.

Fall, 2016

Michael R. H. Swanson, Ph. D

Office: GHH 215

Hours:  M,  12:00-1:00

T-Th 9:30-10:50 or by Appointment

Phone:   (401) 254-3230

E-mail:  mswanson@rwu.edu

For  Monday, October 17

For Thursday, October 20

Read, in Isenberg.

Chapter 7,  Animated by Nostalgia.   255 - 311

Conclusion, "The Lights are Much Brigher There," pp. 312-317

Thus we conclude our adventure with Isenberg.  Nostalgia of course means a love of things old--things that warm the heart.  I was warmed a bit when I learned that Bob Dylan won the Nobel Prize for Poetry, and It made me feel nostalgic. 

For those who don't know who he is, listen to one of the songs which makes me feel nostalgic.  You can find he lyrics here, and a lot more about Bob Dylan, as well.

Thus we conclude our adventure with Isenberg.  Nostalgia of course means a love of things old--things that warm the heart.  I was warmed a bit when I learned that Bob Dylan won the Nobel Prize for Poetry, and It made me feel nostalgic.  Isenberg's story is a bit more sad and a lot less optimistic.  She writes about the way downtown planners tried to compete with suburbia, and do so by abandoning skyscrapers built all of glass in favor of restoring old buildings and creating new ones in nostalgic styles.  Did it work?  Not as the planners and real estate speculators tried to make it work. Much of this started along with the Bicentennial Celebration of the Declaration of Independence, which led to such things as the National Trust for Historic Preservation and our own Historic Preservation Program here, at RWU.  Find out more about the National Trust and some of its work by Clicking Here.  As you read the final chapter, see if you can find images of the places she mentions, look using Gooogle Photographs, and some of the other sources we've shared together.  Then see if you can find a "nostalgic" place in your chosen city.  If you can, put a URL or an image in your resource folder.  A link to the Chosen Cities appears in the index column.  One of the cities she mentions, Galesburg Illinois, appears below.  You might look for signs of failure like the kind she describes, as well as signs of success.  I have added a resource folder for City Data which might help.  I'll explain how to use it in class.

No new readings for today,

• I want to clean up any leftovers from Isenberg for part of the class period.
  

• I also want to have you (at least some of you) share what's happening in terms of your research for your paper or website.  I haven't decided whether or not to call for volunteers or not.
  

• The image above is from a new web resource I found, and I think it may be quite exciting and useful.  It is a link of all the television stations in the United States, in cluding not only by state, but by city within state. Many of you, if not all, will be able to watch local news, as well as read local newspaers.
  

I also want to talk with you about the reading list for the semester.  I am beginning to feel that I was a bit too ambitious.  I would like to have you indicate which of the remaining books you want to read.  I think Jane Jacobs is a must, but we may decide to skip one of the other three.  Alternately I may do some revisions to my grading plans.  I'll pass out a survey on Thursday.  If I decide to skip any book, I will refund the difference betwetween the bookstore cost and what they offer you if you return it.