by Lester Spence | Nov 8, 2013 | Links of the Week
This week may be more amenable to music…what does the idea of a “political machine” mean to you?
by Lester Spence | Nov 8, 2013 | Reading Questions
If you haven't begun writing yet, now's the time, as we've only a few more weeks… Reading Guidelines: 1. For many years, the dominant view in political science held that the political machine was an ethnic phenomenon – a political byproduct of...
by Lester Spence | Oct 30, 2013 | Links of the Week
We're going backwards this week. Baltimore's one of the older cities in the nation. If those of you with cell phones could post pictures of images from the city that remind you of some aspect of this week's readings, that'd be cool.
by Lester Spence | Oct 30, 2013 | Reading Questions
(already!) Reading Guides: 1. Weber, like Wirth, thinks that heterogeneity (he calls it “versatility”) is an essential attribute of cities (pp.66-67) Unlike Wirth, he identifies this versatility with the existence of a market. Why should these two things...
by Lester Spence | Oct 24, 2013 | Reading Questions
This week's readings may get you started thinking about the sense of place in general and the sense of Baltimore in particular. See how they contribute to your own sense: Baltimore as a distinctive place, but you shouldn't feel obliged to regard...
by Lester Spence | Oct 24, 2013 | Links of the Week
This week is the Baltimore week and we're now entering the home stretch. Usual rules apply.
by Lester Spence | Oct 19, 2013 | Links of the Week
This week we come the closest to dealing with our contemporary context. A few weeks ago I played a (far from ironic) bluegrass version of Gin and Juice. If you decide to go the music route, pick something outside of hip-hop.
by Lester Spence | Oct 19, 2013 | Reading Questions
Only two this week (apologies for the delay): Reading Guidelines: 1. If you read carefully, you may notice some social similarities between Tally's Corner, the Italian community of Boston's West End, and Springdale. Try to identify the parallels. They bring is...
by Lester Spence | Oct 9, 2013 | Reading Questions
Reading Guidelines: 1 Harvey and Katznelson are both trying, in different ways, to deal with the same problem — the unexpectedly feeble role of class conflict in American urban politics. Katznelson argues that the exceptional circumstances of American political...
by Lester Spence | Oct 9, 2013 | Links of the Week
Last week's soundtrack. Also, here's the video from a previous iteration of the course: And the audio-walk prezi I mentioned. Finally, you know the deal. This week we deal with social class, a natural lead in from last week, and given Baltimore a natural topic...
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