New York and Chicago: The Cities and Their People

The research proseminar guides students through their own research on the US cities. It introduces students to the important social processes (racial conflict, immigration, capitalism, political corruption, origins and glamour of the upper classes) in NYC and Chicago through readings in social studies and famous movies. It makes students aware of the difference between academic literature on urban communities and fiction – it guides how to read and interpret both for the best understanding of the urban social realities. It teaches students also how to use archival newspapers, statisticalatlas.org, official statistics (US Census), non-governmental organizations’ websites and google maps and google restaurant reviews in urban research.

1. Introduction and overview. RESEAERCH IDEAS, DESIGN AND PROPOSAL

2. Warming up class:

Black Chicago in a movie: South Side with you (2018) and reviews:

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/sep/29/southside-with-you-review-barack-obama-michelle-date-with-destiny

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/the-authentic-joy-of-southside-with-you

https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2016/08/26/491379122/southside-with-you-has-us-asking-where-is-the-love-in-black-movies

3. Contemporary Chicago in social studies

Robert Sampson, keynote address, 50th anniversary of the Kerner Commission Report https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4y7HQ4J9EQ (report from the study published in Great American City. Chicago and the Enduring Neighborhood Effect)

Andrew Diamond, Chicago on the Make, pp. 264-294

4. NYC upper classes in historical movies: The Washington Square (1997) and The Age of Innocence (1993) movies

5. NYC upper classes in social studies:

Sven Beckert, Monied Metropolis, fragments

6. NYC upper classes in popular non-fiction: Martin Wednesday, The Primates of Park Avenue, fragments

7. The Untouchables movie (1987)

Biography of Al Capone https://www.history.com/topics/crime/al-capone

8. Fourth partition (documentary 2018)

Dominic Pacyga, American Warsaw. The rise, fall and rebirth of Polish Chicago, fragments

9. FINAL VERSION OF THE RESEARCH PROPOSAL WORKSHOP. MID-TERM CHECK UP.

10. The Immigrant (2014) MOVIE

Thomas&Znaniecki, Polish Peasant in Europe and America, ed. By Zaretsky, ch. 3 Disorganization in the United States

Peasant Maids, City Women: From the European Countryside to Urban America Paperback, 1997 edited by Christiane Harzig

11. The West Side story movies (1963, 2022) and the social and artistic context: https://leonardbernstein.com/works/view/9/west-side-story

12. Kim, Jinwon. “Manhattan’s Koreatown as a Transclave: The Emergence of a New Ethnic Enclave in a Global City.” City & Community 17, no. 1 (March 2018): 276–95. doi:10.1111/cico.12276 AND The Birth of Korean Cool: How One Nation Is Conquering the World Through Pop Culture, fragments

13. Do the right thing (1989) movie

Koreans in NYC in social studies: Pyong Gap Min, Koreans: Changes in New York in the Twenty- First Century IN: One out of three. New immigrants in NYC

14 and 15. Presentation and discussion of the students’ research papers

Black Chicago in a movie: South Side with you (2018) and reviews:

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/sep/29/southside-with-you-review-barack-obama-michelle-date-with-destiny

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/the-authentic-joy-of-southside-with-you

https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2016/08/26/491379122/southside-with-you-has-us-asking-where-is-the-love-in-black-movies

Robert Sampson, keynote address, 50th anniversary of the Kerner Commission Report https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4y7HQ4J9EQ (report from the study published in Great American City. Chicago and the Enduring Neighborhood Effect)

Andrew Diamond, Chicago on the Make, pp. 264-294

The Washington Square (1997) and The Age of Innocence (1993) movies

Sven Beckert, Monied Metropolis, fragments

Martin Wednesday, The Primates of Park Avenue, fragments

The Untouchables movie (1987)

Biography of Al Capone https://www.history.com/topics/crime/al-capone

Fourth partition (documentary 2018)

Dominic Pacyga, American Warsaw. The rise, fall and rebirth of Polish Chicago, fragments

The Immigrant (2014) MOVIE

Thomas&Znaniecki, Polish Peasant in Europe and America, ed. By Zaretsky, ch. 3 Disorganization in the United States

Peasant Maids, City Women: From the European Countryside to Urban America Paperback, 1997 edited by Christiane Harzig

The West Side story movies (1963, 2022) and the social and artistic context: https://leonardbernstein.com/works/view/9/west-side-story

Kim, Jinwon. “Manhattan’s Koreatown as a Transclave: The Emergence of a New Ethnic Enclave in a Global City.” City & Community 17, no. 1 (March 2018): 276–95. doi:10.1111/cico.12276 AND The Birth of Korean Cool: How One Nation Is Conquering the World Through Pop Culture, fragments

Do the right thing (1989) movie

Koreans in NYC in social studies: Pyong Gap Min, Koreans: Changes in New York in the Twenty- First Century IN: One out of three. New immigrants in NYC

1. KNOWLEDGE: Detailed knowledge in the field selected for the research

2. SKILLS: Formulating research problem; Preparing literature review; Preparing research proposal; understanding and applying research methods; Critical analysis of primary sources; Writing text in a style and format of an academic article.

3. SOCIAL COMPETENCES: presenting one's research results; expressing constructive and polite opinions on someone else's research.

1. research proposal 25% (25: excellent; 20: very good; 15: good; 12: acceptable)

2. participation in the class discussion including ONE in-class introduction to the readings/movies: 25% (25: excellent, 20: very good; 15: good; 12: acceptable)

3. research paper 50% (50: excellent; 42: very good; 35: good, 27: acceptable)