Week 3 (Sep 7-12) : What was the role and possibility of urban housing in the industrial age? What was the states responsibility to its poorest citizens (if it had any)? How did capital, labor and form interact to meet or fail to meet the needs of citizens for shelter?
Discuss these questions in two paragraphs using Mumfords and Engels articles. Finish your reflections with a discussion question so that your classmates can have a chance to engage.
Week 4 (Sep 13 – 19): Discuss one of the following questions in 2 paragraphs (due Friday night). As always finish with a question to then participate in discussions with your classmates (due Sunday night).
1) How did New York City come to be the largest city in the United States?
2) What were the consequences of the development of transportation technology in New York?
(*cite assigned readings in your answers if you want to receive full points)
Week 5 (Sep 20 – 26): Pick one of the below questions and discuss it in two paragraphs (write 400-600 words).
1) What are the differing perspectives about the formation of cities?
2) How do the cities grow according to different urban theories?
You have to use citations while answering either question.
Discuss one of the following questions in two paragraphs in your discussion posts by Friday, December 3rd and response posts by Sunday, December 5th.
1) According to Wacquant, how does the experience of racial minority status differ in French and American urban places? Discuss in two paragraphs what these differences imply in terms of public policies.
2) What is “creative class” according to Richard Florida? How have they transformed the cities until the pandemic? What are Richard Florida’s projections about the future of post-pandemic cities regarding urban segregation and economic inequalities?
