AMERICAN URBAN HISTORY A347; H511
Spring 2010, Mondays and Wednesdays, 9:00 P.M. to 10:15 P.M. Cavanaugh Hall 225
Instructor: Dr. Paul A. Buelow; Office CAV 313, hours: Mon. 10:30-11:30 A.M. & by app’t.
Phone/voice mail: History Dept.; fax: 317/278-7800; e-mail:
COURSE DESCRIPTION. The ability to examine change and continuity in the past from the viewpoint of the present makes the study of history fascinating and important. Looking at the development of American urban areas (“cities”) can help the student understand how forces such as technology, business and industry, migration and immigration, politics and government shaped our country’s history. Celebrating unity of identity as Americans, as well as diversity of culture and background, this course promotes inquiry concerning (among other topics):
· Reasons for the growth of United States cities
· The functions of cities in U.S history
· Physical challenges inherent in city living over time
· Social and psychological challenges inherent in city life over time
· How American society and culture have developed in cities, and how they have influenced the development of cities.
COURSE OBJECTIVES. Conforming to IUPUI’s “Principles of Undergraduate Learning” (see http://www.iupui.edu/~history/principlesundergradlearning.htm), which all students are expected to have mastered by graduation, assignments for this class are designed to help develop reading and communication skills by analyzing historical documents and concepts. Logical thinking and effective communication are helpful to every person. The study of history fosters such thinking, writing, and speaking by engaging students in considering a document or argument in its time/space context and its philosophical and political foundations.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS. Lectures provide an outline of topics as well as specific information, but discussion provides a way to solidify understanding. Students should come to class having read the material listed for that day on the syllabus, and having formulated questions they would like to answer.
TEXTS. 1) Mohl, Raymond, ed. The Making of Urban America, 2nd edition, 1997 (a book of readings).
2) Larson, Erik. The Devil in the White City
These books may be purchased at the Cavanaugh Hall bookstore. A copy of each will be put on reserve in the library. Please bring texts to class as instructed.
ATTENDANCE. Regular attendance is expected. Students earn one point for each attendance. Please consult with the teacher about unavoidable absence due to illness (doctor’s note required) to prevent needless point-loss.
LATE OR MISSED WORK. Material handed in after the due date will be given reduced credit.
INTELLECTUAL HONESTY. Rigorous intellectual work and academic integrity are important for every student. Plagiarism and other forms of cheating will result in an “F” for the work in question and possible disciplinary action by the University, whose policy on plagiarism is stated in the IUPUI Campus Bulletin, 2004-2006 (p.36), as follows:
A student must not adopt or reproduce ideas, words, or statements of another person without an appropriate acknowledgment. A student must give due credit to the originality of others and acknowledge an indebtedness whenever he or she does any of the following:
a. Quotes another person’s actual words, either oral or written;
b. Paraphrases another person’s words, either oral or written;
c. Uses another person’s idea opinion, or theory; or
d. Borrows facts, statistics, or other material, unless that information is common knowledge.
For more information, you can find the IUPUI Student Code of Conduct on line at: http://life.iupui.edu/dos/code.htm. Please talk with your instructor if you have questions about what is or is not plagiarism.
WITHDRAWALS AND INCOMPLETES. If you decide to drop this class, please note 1) deadlines apply, and 2) you must submit an official “drop slip” to the registrar (signed by the appropriate people). University policy requires assigning an “F” to a student who stops showing up without submitting a signed drop slip (even if that student has told the professor that she or he plans to withdraw). About incompletes, IUPUI’s policy is that they are for students who have completed almost all of the course requirements and have been prevented by significant or unanticipated events from finishing the class. Documentation of these events may be required.
CLASSROOM WISDOM & ETIQUETTE.
· Come to every class session. You can learn quite a lot by listening carefully and thinking about what you hear and read!
· Eat and sleep well, exercise as you can, and you’ll be in good shape to learn!
· Class discussions are more interesting and useful if students keep up with the reading (indicated on the schedule below for each session).
· Please bring to class the syllabus, any handouts, and the texts needed.
· Practice taking useful notes as you read your texts and as you participate in class.
· Questions in class are welcome at any time, but private conversations are not. Please turn off or mute cell phones, pagers, and beepers before class begins.
· Use a method to read your texts! I recommend the SQR method. That is, S: Quickly survey the reading assignment, noting bold-faced headings and terms in the text; examine the illustrations and their captions; Q: think about what you already know about this topic and design a question for your reading to answer; R: read the selection with a piece of note-paper next to your open book to record an answer. You will be amazed at how your level of interest increases, along with comprehension. (Bring your question to class to see if others were thinking the same things!)
· In the case of disabilities, please call the office of Adaptive Educational Services in CA001E (phone 274-3241).
The IUPUI Writing Center (CA 427; 274-2049; grammar hotline 274-3000) can be a great help in working on your writing assignments. Save all assignments on disk, make backup copies, and print (and keep) at least one draft of your paper before you submit it in final form. This class will use ONCOURSE as a forum for communication. Students should access ONCOURSE regularly.
MINOR PROJECT. Visual presentation (using PowerPoint or similar program) of changes over time in a city of your choice (not Indianapolis) with the aid of maps, photographs, and other images. This assignment requires the student to find maps and images of the city at three time points: when it was founded, approximately half-way through its life-span up to today, and the present time. The three (or more) maps and images must be captioned with explanation of 1) the site of the city; 2) the functions of the city that played a major role in the way the city developed; 3) major changes as the city grew and expanded. You will present these images to the class in a five-to-ten-minute mini-lecture. Project must be digital and a copy given to instructor.
MAJOR PROJECT. Tri-fold back-board presentation of the history of a city of your choice (not Indianapolis, and not the city used for the minor project). Unfolded, this triptych can be no larger than four feet wide and four feet tall. This portfolio will uses maps and other images, and charts and graphs, as well as type-written description (in the form of captions or free-standing paragraphs) to
· Show the city’s geography at its beginning, at its middle years, and in recent years
· illustrate the city’s demography at the same points in time.
· show birth-place, ethnicities, male-female ratios, ages, and occupations.
· produce an “ethnicity map” showing where in the city different ethnic groups tended to live at various points in time.
· Describe the city’s infrastructure (water-sewer, roads, highways, railroads, airports, harbors, distribution of electricity, natural gas, telephone, etc.)
· Show how the city has segregated various activities or functions into separate geographical areas (zoning).
· Describe the city’s government when it was first incorporated as a city and what its government is like today.
· List major businesses located in and around the city, along with major products and services
· List major churches, synagogues, mosques, schools, colleges, and universities
· Show the location of early parks and other recreational facilities
· Describe the early provision of mass-market sporting events such as baseball.
· Show what kinds of entertainment were available to people at various times in the history of the city.
A347 and H511 Spring 2010 Schedule (subject to change with notice).
Week / Readings & Assignments1-5 / Overview of the Course; Readings and Writing Assignments, Minor Project, Major Project.
Week 3 through 10 on Thursdays, Minor Project due in order determined by drawing lots. Approximately five people will present their city to the class on Thursdays.
Readings (to be discussed in class in the order given):
· Introduction to the Pre-Industrial City by Raymond Mohl, in Mohl, Urban America.
· Nash, Gary B. “The Social Evolution of Preindustrial American Cities” in Mohl, Urban America.
· Gilfoyle, Timothy J. “Strumpets and Misogynists: Brothel “Riots” and the Transformation of Prostitution in Antebellum New York City” in Mohl, Urban America.
· Miller, Randall M. “The Enemy Within: Some Effects of Foreign Immigrants on Antebellum Southern Cities” in Mohl, Urban America.
· Ryan, Mary. “The American Parade: Representations of the Nineteenth-Century Social Order” in Mohl, Urban America.
6-10 / The Industrial City Readings:
· Introduction to the Industrial City, in Mohl, pp. 93ff.
· McShane, Clay, and Joel A. Tarr. “The Centrality of the Horse in the Nineteenth-Century American City” in Mohl, Urban America.
· Czitrom, Daniel. “Underworlds and Underdogs: Big Tim Sullivan and Metropolitan Politics in New York, 1889-1913” in Mohl, Urban America.
· Powers, Madelon. “The ‘Poor Man’s Friend’: Saloonkeepers, Workers, and the Code of Reciprocity in U.S. Barrooms, 1870-1920” in Mohl, Urban America.
· Peiss, Kathy. “Leisure and Labor” in Mohl, Urban America.
· Erik Larson, The Devil in the White City. Questions to be answered in writing during class period.
· Pacyga, Dominic. “Chicago’s 1919 Race Riot: Ethnicity, Class, and Urban Violence” in Mohl, Urban America.
11-15 / The Twentieth-Century City
Week 14: Major project (tri-fold presentation) due.
Readings:
· Introduction to the Twentieth-Century City, pp. 211ff. in Mohl, Urban America.
· Sánchez, George J. “Music and Mass Culture in Mexican-American Los Angeles” in Mohl, Urban America.
· Biles, Roger. “The New Deal in Dallas” in Mohl, Urban America.
· Hirsch, Arnold R. “Harold and Dutch: A Comparative Look at the First Black Mayors of Chicago and New Orleans” in Mohl, Urban America.
· Mohl, Raymond A. “Blacks and Hispanics in Multicultural America: A Miami Case Study” in Mohl, Urban America.
· Sharpe, William and Leonard Wallock. “Bold New City of Built-up ‘Burb? Redefining Contemporary Suburbia.
16 / Final Exam
Subject to change with notification, the assessment categories in this class and point values (all points given equal weight) are as follows:
Classroom participation (students earn one point for each class session signed in 30 pts (5%)
Writing Assignment based on Devil in the White City 40 pts (20%)
Minor Assignment 50 pts (20%)
Major Assignment 80 pts (30%)
Final Exam 50 pts (25%)
Totals: 250 pts (100%)
Grading scale—A: 90%-100% (A+ = 98-100; A = 93-97; A- = 90-92); B: 80-89 (B+ = 88-89; B = 83-87; B- = 80-82); C: 70-79 (C+ = 78-79; C = 73-77; C- = 70-72); D: 60-69 (D+ = 68-69; D = 63-67; D- = 60-62); F: below 60%. Keep in mind that each type of category above is weighted according to the percentages you see to the right, so a sum of points earned divided by total possible will not give an accurate grade. Note that the Oncourse grading program rounds upward only in the hundredths place. This means that a student earning 79.88 percent of the total possible points will round up to 79.9 and receive a C+ rather than an 80 and a B-.
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