AMST 430 | MICHAEL R. H. SWANSON Ph. D | |
Urban America | OFFICE: Feinstein College 110 | |
ROGER WILLIAMS UNIVERSITY | Hours: M, T, Th, F 9:00-10:00 | |
CH 122 | Or By Appointment | |
M, W, F, 12:00-1:00 | PHONE: (254)-3230 | |
all, 2001 | FE-mail: mswanson@rwu.edu |
Course Introduction
Like New England and The South, this special topics course in Urban America seeks to explore the relationship between culture and environment. Unlike those two courses, this course directs our attention to a specific type of environment, rather than to a region of the country. Since at least the days of Thomas Jefferson, Americans have had a love-hate relationship with cities. We will want to explore this ambiguous attitude. First, however, we'll have to understand what a city is: how, as a made thing, it represents planning and thinking, and aesthetic values. Then we can proceed to look at ways individuals and groups have reacted to this unique type of environment. Books
I'm asking you to purchase five books for this course. We will be reading in several of them simultaneously, but we'll encounter them in roughly this order: 1. Girouard, Mark, Cities and People 2. Schuyler, David. The New Urban Landscape: The Redefinition of City Form in 19th Century America. 3. Lopate, Philip (editor), Writing New York: A literary Anthology. 5. Terkel, Studs, Division Street: America
This course is new, and as such, there is room for some negotiation
and flexibility in determining what kinds of activities can be submitted
for grades. The size of the class is small enough so I won't have to retreat
into quickly graded examinations which measure little and teach less. At
minimum I expect two exams, a reaction paper, and a project will
be required. Of course the fewer the number of things, the more each will
count. I want to give people the option to be "out and doing," experiencing
urban life in a thinking, self-conscious way, and I would like to make
credit available for these experiences-either substituting for other activities
or "extra credit," but I haven't worked out a formula for this yet. Some
possibilities might include an afternoon and evening in Providence, visiting
one of the ethnic communities and sharing a meal there, or perhaps a Saturday
trip to New York City, joining with the School of Architecture on one of
their jaunts there. There will also be three, possibly four films
on the Monday Night Penny Arcade series that I want you to see: Fritz Lang's
Metropolis, (1927) Charlie Chaplin's City Lights, (1931), Philadelphia
Story (1940), and Midnight Cowboy (1969). I'll get back to you with the
dates of showing of these.
Project Possibilities
These will be limited only by your own imaginations. I'd like them to be of a reasonable length (10 pp. or thereabouts), and if possible, presented to the class in some form or other (perhaps as a website... some of you have done this for me in other classes). Some possibilities might include:
There will be one. I'm a wee bit behind, but I should have it up and
running by next week.
Assignments for Friday, September 7 to Friday, September 14
For Friday, September 7
Read, in Girouard, The Preface through Chapter
2, "Manufacture, Trade, and Money" pp. v,-40
We're going to be looking at the underlying factors which cause cities
to come into being, and also at the social institutions which shape city
life. We'll also consider the physical impact on space that these institutions
make through their architecture, and explore some of the reasons why they
build as they did.
For Monday, September 10
Read, in Girouard, Chapter 3, "Church and State,"
41-66
We are well aware that civic and religious institutions (and their buildings)
dominated colonial American cities. As Chapter three will show, this is
nothing new. Be aware of aspects of city life which each of these institutions
shape, and consider the less immediately obvious ones, which we might classify
under "social welfare" and "infrastructure".
For Wednesday, September 12
Read, in Girouard, Chapter 4. "The Texture of Life,"
67-84
Texture is a metaphor. Think about cloth, how it is made, and you'll
get some sense of what Girouard is trying to convey. We'll look at the
interweaving of groups into the city fabric (another metaphor), and also
at patterns imposed on the city (streets, blocks, etc.), to accommodate
that interweaving.
For Friday, September 14
Read, in Girouard, Chapter 5, "Bruges and Venice,"
85 - 112
This chapter concludes section one of Girouard's study by presenting
two examples of medieval and renaissance cities, Bruges in the north and
Venice in the south. This is useful for us, because it allows us to see
both general things (similarities which all cities possess) and specific
things which are unique to individual places. We'll have similar problems
and opportunities when we look at American cities.
One thing you will have noticed about Girouard is that it is copiously illustrated. Please don't think of this as a blessing because it means less text to read!" The illustrations, aside from being gorgeously produced and presented, were carefully chosen to illustrate and expand upon points the text makes. Give yourself time to really, really, really look at them! And bring your book to class ALWAYS! I want to spend time analyzing selected pictures and you'll be clueless if you have just your desk in front of you. |