The assignments in this course are designed to help train students and to prepare them for research, writing and teaching. Reading, leading class discussions and participating in them are integral to successfully completing the work for this class. Each session will have a discussion leader who will prepare a short synopsis of the reading to be emailed in advance of class and lead a discussion on the reading.

The discussion should focus on major historical issues and pose interpretive/ analytic questions to promote a discussion of the issues. Avoid the presentation of questions that are really another form of lecture. Questions should be direct and open ended and they should be part of a well thought out organized presentation. Asking good questions is critical not only for doing good research but also for running good classes.

Each topic will also have an assigned second reader who will offer a critique of the reading based on the review literature and the reader’s own evaluation.

There are several additional assignments.

Session 3.  Write a 750 word essay on: which of the assigned books that you have read thus far do you find most instructive/useful if you were to teach this as an undergraduate course. Explain why, touching on quality of writing, research, clarity of argument and suitability for undergraduate classes.

Session 5. Select a neighborhood or an urban institution (police precinct, library, community district, public school, municipal agency) and prepare a history based on research (can include documents, newspapers, interviews, memoir and diary literature, but not secondary sources). In your profile discuss the historic mission and your assessment of the way that it has met the needs it was designed to address. If you choose a community profile for, example, the paper should offer a brief history of the area (use books, magazines, and newspaper articles as well as interviews with residents, local workers, businessmen, political figures) its physical layout, local landmarks, the people and something of the tone and texture of the community. 3,000 words.

Session 7.  1. Go back fifty years from your birthday and look up the NY Times for that day. Read it in its entirety, including reviews and ads. Write a two page description of the day and what you find historically noteworthy. 2. Find the paper for 25 years later and then a third newspaper for the day of your birth. Select a single theme that you trace through all three issues write a four page paper on its development over the half century. You  may look at changes in the physical city, in ethnic or race relations, in the kinds of crime that are reported, in municipal politics or entertainment, or even at the changes in advertising strategy and format. Do not use any sources beyond the paper.

Session 9. Write a 750 word review of a book relevant to your research topic. The review should summarize the book, as you understand it. Discuss the highlights and the major points as they relate to the city and its history. Do not select a novel or a text as this will be too complicated for you to review. Once you have summarized the book (2-3 pages) discuss the author’s method of making his/her argument and any other thoughts you have on the quality of the narrative, the clarity of the argument, the use of sources, how the book has changed your understanding of the city, etc. Use examples from the text to back up your points.

The Paper. Either a historiography paper on an approved topic, 12-15 pages; or:  choose a topic in Urban history between 1860 and 1960 and based upon  research in newspapers and magazines write a documented, analytic essay approximately 15 pages in length. The objective of the essay is to identify, categorize and analyze your topic’s relationship to the larger urban narrative, metropolitan, regional or national.

You may select a topic like the Brooklyn Bridge, the development of a community, the urban political process, a prominent figure, a social movement, an institution, a business, a cultural mode, etc.

The paper will obviously be limited in scope. But you can look at an issue as it was reported (recognizing that errors often do creep into reports when an observer writes against a deadline, is forced to depend upon random testimony and often lacks context). Do not settle upon a single circumstance or event; build a base of information that can be related thematically to your topic.

Your paper should be based exclusively on what can be learned from the primary research. You may use one secondary source to provide the context, but not for information. Footnote your material with brief citations.

Start early. Reserve a good bit of time to organize and write the paper.

By the fifth session you will need to hand in a brief outline of your subject and your secondary source. The paper will be due the first week in May. There is a one week grace period. If you submit your paper late your grade will reflect the tardiness.

Feel free to consult me with any problems or questions.  If you want a copy back submit two copies of your paper.

N.B.: Keep copies of everything you submit. Your papers should be your own work and reflect your own research. Where you have relied on outside sources for material make sure that this is noted. Quotes should be marked off to indicate they are not your words and they should be footnoted. Do not use previously submitted papers, purchased material or any other form of work that is not your own. The consequences of plagiarism can be serious. Enough said.