Life and Death in the 19th Century European City

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

Urban civilization as we know it was born in 19th century Europe. Rarely have the bright and dark sides of progress been so starkly juxtaposed as in the cities immortalized by Charles Dickens, Victor Hugo, and Fyodor Dostoevsky, with their railroads, department stores, and other modern wonders, but also their slums, cholera, and ubiquitous coal smoke. Those cities were the first to confront the challenges that cities have faced ever since: How can a government unify the people, police the streets, and preserve a livable environment? How can society organize itself to build infrastructure, develop the economy, integrate immigrants, educate the young, and uplift the poor? How can everyday men and women share in the city's wealth and freedom without succumbing to its cruelty and alienation? Through modern scholarship and through fiction, journalism, images, and other sources from the period, we will explore the grimness and the glory of the 19th century European city. This course is a research seminar. Each student's main activity will be to write an extended research paper on a topic of his or her choice. We will spend weeks 1-6 acquiring an overview of the subject, and developing topics for research papers. Weeks 7-10 will be devoted to analysis of different types of sources and scholarship. During weeks 11-15, students will work on their papers and make presentations to the class about their research.