Syllabus
IDC 4050H: New York Stories
Spring 2011
Professor Shelly Eversley, Department of English
[email protected]
646 312 3960
Office Hours: Wednesdays, 10-11:00am and by appointment (VC 7-249)
Professor Vera Haller, Department of Journalism and the Writing Professions
[email protected]
646 312 4338
Office Hours: Wednesdays, 10-11:00am and by appointment (VC 7-253)
Course Description and Expectations:
New York: what is it about the city that attracts so many? There are millions and millions of stories. In this seminar, we will study and analyze some of the poems, essays, fiction and journalistic writings that attempt to define the identity of the city. When does a person become a New Yorker? What makes New York unique? In class discussions, in posts to a class blog and in focused excursions around the city, we will discover our own “New York Stories.” We will add to the city’s seemingly endless tales in formal writing assignments and final multimedia projects.
Active class participation is crucial. You must complete the reading and come to class prepared to participate in class discussion. You will complete four short writing assignments (10% each), regularly participate in our class blog and produce at least one “One in 8 million” story for the blog (20%), and complete a final research and multimedia project (40%).
The Blog: we will use a class blog to explore and comment on how what we learn affects contemporary life and your contemporary knowledge. You are welcome to post anything (e.g., written comments, poetry, video, art) you think is relevant to our class discussions. You are also welcome to comment on other people’s posts. You are required to post at least 8 times and comment 6 times. If you do not have a blogs@baruch user account, you must sign up for one and then add yourself as a user on our course blog: https://blogs.baruch.cuny.edu/NewYorkStories
Required Texts:
E.B. White, Here is New York
Anzia Yezierska, The Bread Givers
John Dos Passos, Manhattan Transfer
Patti Smith, Just Kids
Additional Readings will be available for download on the class blog.
All books are available to purchase online and at Shakespeare and Company Booksellers, 137 E. 23rd Street.
Students will have the opportunity to participate in an all-night bicycle tour of New York City led by Kenneth J. Guest, an associate professor in Baruch’s Department of Sociology and Anthropology. The tour will take place in late April or early May.
The Schedule:
January 31: Introductions: What Makes a New Yorker?
February 2: E.B. White, Here is New York
NYTimes.com multimedia feature, “One in 8 Million”
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/nyregion/1-in-8-million/index.html
I. The Immigrant Experience
February 7: Trip to Museum of Chinese in America, 215 Centre Street
–11am talk by a museum educator, followed by a self-guided tour. Time permitting, we will take a walk in Chinatown.
February 9: Immigrants in New York City today: Are their stories getting told? (Readings to be posted)
February 14: Anzia Yezierska, The Bread Givers
February 16: The Bread Givers continued; discussion of archival materials and research
February 21: No Class. President’s Day.
February 23: Photography and the city: Reliving stories of New York’s past.
Discussion based on photographs in the online collection of the Museum of the City of New York http://collections.mcny.org/
MCNY/C.aspx?VP3=CMS3&VF=MNY_HomePage#)
Writing Assignment #1 is due: Research paper related to The Bread Givers
II. Skyscrapers…
February 28: John Dos Passos, Manhattan Transfer
March 2: Manhattan Transfer continued.
March 7: Manhattan Transfer continued. Discussion of Ann Douglas, “Sykscrapers, Airplanes, and Airmindedness: “The Necessary Angel” (available on the blog).
March 9: The history of skyscrapers in New York City. What is their allure? What do they add to the fabric of the city? Discussion based on readings posted on the blog.
Present research tools for Writing Assignment #2.
March 14: Informal walking tour of neighborhood to see Met Life building, Flatiron building and, time permitting, the Empire State Building.
March 16: Guest Speaker: Dan Wakin, New York Times reporter
Article: “The Heist, the Getaway and the Sawed Off Leg”
III. Jazz and the Avant Garde
March 21: Art and music from the Harlem Renaissance (readings and images available on the class blog)
March 23: New York’s Avant Garde (readings available on the class blog)
Writing Assignment #2 is due: Research (2 pages) and photograph a building in New York City that interests you.
March 28: Visit Dorothy Miller Exhibition at the Graduate Center’s James Gallery
March 30: Workshop on Final Project
IV. The City and 9/11
April 4: Class discussion on the impact of Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the city.
April 6: Reading: New York Times’ Portraits of Grief, profiles of each victim of the attack.
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/newyorkandregion/series/portraits_of_grief/index.html
April 11: Tour of Ground Zero
April 13: Guest Speaker on Ground Zero. 10 Years After: Where Do We Go From Here? Discuss students’ impressions in light of the 10-year anniversary.
Writing Assignment #3 is due: Two-page description of final project. The paper should include a bibliography for research on the subject.
April 18: No Class. Spring Break.
April 20: No Class. Spring Break.
V. Bohemia in 1970s’ New York
April 25: Patti Smith, Just Kids
April 27: Just Kids continued
VI. Money, Wall Street and the City|
May 2: A look at the current high rollers: Bernie Madoff
Readings: “A Monster Mensch,” New York Magazine profile
http://nymag.com/news/businessfinance/54703/
“How the Collapse of Lehman Brothers Pushed Capitalism to the Brink,” The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/sep/04/lehman-brothers-aftershocks-28-days
May 4: New York and the Great Recession – How the current bad economy has taken its toll on the city. Discussion of class assignment.
Writing Assignment #4: Assignment: Find out how people are weathering the recession; interview New Yorkers about how they view Wall Street. Multimedia is a must. Post your results on the blog.
VII. The City and the Future
May 9: Readings: archived news articles about the 1964 World’s Fair and Mayor Bloomberg’s PlanNYC for the Year 2030 (http://www.nyc.gov/html/planyc2030/html/home/home.shtml)
May 11: SE
VII. Conclusions
May 16: Final Project Presentations
May 18: Final Project Presentations