AMST 30156 - The City in American Culture

Institution:

University of Notre Dame

Subject:

American Studies

Description:

Jane Jacobs wrote in The Death and Life of Great American Cities that all cities are governed by a marvelous and complex order. This order, she said, is composed of movement and change; and though it is life, not art, we may call it the form of the city, and liken it to the dance. "The City in American Culture" looks closely at the origins and continuation of that dance as it analyzes some of the forces that have shaped and continue to shape America's cities and their surrounding metropolitan areas. The course will center on a number of literary and nonliterary texts and be guided by a series of questions such as: Does urbanization thrive on a culture of poverty? Are twentieth-century gated communities a continuation of the brownstone mansion? Does the American Dream require vivid urban poverty? Is there such a thing as enough? Who lives in cities today? How are societal changes and the goals of urban development rewriting the role of cities? How has gentrification and evolving patterns of metropolitanism/cosmopolitanism effected the modern city and its composite neighborhoods. Why and how do cities compete for target communities such as arts, gay/lesbian, minority, young, urban, and professional? The course will have a written, research, and a practical/experiential component.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.nd.edu

Phone Number:

(574) 631-5000

Regional Accreditation:

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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