Instructor: Carl Zimring
E-mail: cz28@andrew.cmu.edu
Phone: 268-5736
Office: Baker Hall 360
Office Hours: Mondays 2:00 - 2:50pm or by appointment

COURSE PURPOSES:

This course is designed to stimulate discussion of historical themes concerning American cities. It will also serve to give you practice in historiography via an essay of 15-25 pages concerning a major theme in urban history. You will be asked to discuss in this paper what major books on the subject have covered, compare arguments by prominent scholars, and give suggestions (based on the materials you've read) as to where future research on the subject should go.

The required books will serve as the basis of our discussions. To focus our discussions of the books, be sure to write detailed notes on the texts and come to class prepared to analyze the merits of the texts with your classmates. I expect vocal, substantive discussion from you on a regular basis, as class discussion comprises 30% of your course grade.

BOOKS TO PURCHASE:

William Cronon, Nature's Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West.
Mike Davis, City of Quartz: Excavating the Future in Los Angeles.
Kenneth T. Jackson, Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States.
Kathy Peiss, Cheap Amusements: Working Women and Leisure in Turn-Of-The-Century New York.
Clarence N. Stone, Regime Politics: Governing Atlanta, 1946-1988.
Joel A. Tarr, The Search for the Ultimate Sink: Urban Pollution in Historical Perspective.
Richard C. Wade, The Urban Frontier: The Rise of Western Cities, 1790-1830.

BOOK REVIEWS:

This course requires critical reading of the texts. I urge you to take detailed notes for every reading assignment as we will have detailed conversations about the reading in our meetings. You will write three book reviews (about 800-1000 words in length each) over the course of the semester. You are required to write a review of Richard Wade's The Urban Frontier and hand it in on September 4. You may write reviews of your choice of two of the remaining six texts, with the review due at the beginning of class on the last day we discuss each book. Late reviews will not be accepted.

Your reviews should address all of the following questions:

1. What is the book about? What period does it cover?

2. What is the author's argument?

3. What evidence does the author use to make her/his argument?

4. Discuss aspects of the book you thought were particularly impressive or interesting.

5. Were there any weaknesses in the book? Things you thought should have been done better, or things you disagreed with?

6. After having read the book, is there anything else you would like to know about the topic it covered? What questions for future work did it raise in your mind?

HISTORIOGRAPHICAL PAPER:

The heart of your work in this class will be a 15-25 page historiographical paper. You will choose, in consultation with me, a theme on an aspect of the urban experience. I will give you a list of five books relating to that theme. Your job will be to critically evaluate those books, compare their respective arguments, and discuss how future work on the theme might go based on the strengths and weaknesses of the books. The questions raised in the book review assignment will be useful for your evaluations of the books for this paper. I may add a few titles depending on the needs of your paper; I may also recommend that you use some of the assigned readings where relevant.

Writing is a difficult process, one that is best done in stages. Note that you will write the paper in several stages over the semester. You will turn in an outline covering the basic points the readings cover in your themes on October 5. You should have at least looked at the introductions to your five books by the time you do the outline. Your rough draft is due October 26. You should have read all five of your books and be ready to compare their respective merits and weaknesses by the time you start your rough draft. The final draft is due December 2. While you are finishing writing, I will ask each of you to present a brief presentation (10-15 minutes) on what you've learned about your topic, and what, if any, difficulties you are having completing the paper. The point of the presentations is to elicit feedback from your classmates and let them help you refine your work.

COMPONENTS OF GRADE:

Paper outline 5%
Rough draft 15%
Final draft 25%
Book reviews 25%
Class discussion 30%
(includes discussions and presentations)

CLASS SCHEDULE AND ASSIGNMENTS

NOTE: It is assumed that assigned reading will be done before the class for which it is designated.