The Twentieth Century American City

Catalog description

The Twentieth Century American City This course will examine the major themes of American urban history during the Twentieth Century. With a focus on the transformations, tensions, and conflicts of city life, we will explore mass immigration and demographic change, infrastructure and physical development, the transition from an industrial to a service economy, the political contest between entrenched party organizations and efforts at reform, and the manner on which ethnic and racial groups have vied for power within municipal governance. We will explore these themes through close examination of historical change in cities such as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Atlanta, representing varying regions and patterns of settlement.