SOCIOLOGY 125

SPRING 2001

 

Department of Sociology 
Clark University 
Worcester, Massachusetts 01610 
(508) 793-7243


 

Professor Robert J.S. Ross: "BOB" 
Office: 405 Jefferson 
Extension: (793) 7376

RJSROSS@CLARKU.EDU
Office hours: Tues., Thurs. 2-3 and by appointment 

INTRODUCTION

Three quarters of the American people live in urban areas, two thirds in metropolitan areas, and the vast majority of minorities and new immigrants live in central cities. As it has been since 1920 at the latest, the American frontier is metropolitan.
This course in "urban sociology" will introduce you to the field, and to the history, development, theory, structure and problems of the urban world. As a social science major it will be a building block in your general preparation. As a citizen of an urban world it will help you to understand your world, the places in which you live and fear to live, and the great issues of equity and equality which suffuse the politics and culture of our times.

WORK AND GRADE

1. Class attendance will be critical to your success in this course: lectures (on Tuesdays) will cover material NOT in assigned readings; discussions on Thursdays will probe lectures and clarify issues in readings. Reading assignments MUST be completed by Tuesday, each week; come to class prepared to respond to questions about them, AND TO ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT THEM! (Class participation: 10% of grade.)
2. Online homework assignments will constitute 20% of your grade. When performed adequately and on time (earning a checkmark) they will be approximately a "B";  check minus below that; if performed very well, they will earn an "A".
3. An in-class QUIZ (10%) will be given before the mid-term break: an incentive to catch up on reading and to make sure that your class notes are in order. DATE: WARNING: The Mid-Term break does not begin until Friday. Medical notes or prior notice and extreme justification will be required for make-ups. TRAVEL PLANS ARE NOT AN EXCUSE TO MISS THIS.
4. A take home essay assignment will follow. The Questions will be distributed ___;  they will be DUE     (25%)
5. You may choose EITHER a research paper or a final exam take-home essay, for your final project. For the final essay, the questions will be similar in style to the first essay assignment. The questions will be distributed onApril 24 and DUE May 4 (seniors) and May 7. The research paper, for those who choose this, should analyze a problem using (AT LEAST) recent scholarly research and (hopefully) your own assembly of data and information. Group projects, and multiply authored papers are permitted, even encouraged. You must submit a written proposal for your paper by Feb. 27 if you want to do one, and you MUST MAKE THE CHOICE BY Feb. 6. You should see me to discuss it. (Final or Paper: 35%)
I will discuss this in class. All essays must be typed or word-processed, double-spaced.
 

Class participation 

10%

Quiz

10%

Essay Assignment

20

Take Home Final OR Research Paper 

35

On line Home work assignments ( 4)

25

TOTAL

100%

BOOKS

·       Ordered for this Course, at the Bookstore and on Reserve are:
[The initials designate the way they are referred to in reading assignments in the schedule below] 

·       Kleniewski, Nancy. Cities, Change, and Conflict. Wadsworth. 1997 

·       Lemann, Nicholas: The Promised Land. Vintage. 1991. ["NL"] 

·       Wilson, William J. When Work Disappears. Knopf. 1996. ["WW"] 

·       Legates, Richard and Frederic Stout.(1996)2000.The City Reader. Routledge [LS]

Distributed without charge: 

Below is a summary of significant events and then a schedule of topics and assignments.

 

SCHEDULE OF SIGNIFICANT EVENTS

First Assignment Due: Metro areas

1/23

CHOOSE TERM PAPER OPTION 


Submit paragraph, neatly typed, explaining what you want to do.

2/6

Second Assignment:Submit map assignment

2/13

Research Paper Proposal Due 


See Table at end for specific schedule, or click here

2/27

MIDTERM QUIZ

3/1

Third assignment Interpretation of data on Black Americans

3/20

TAKE HOME ESSAY: Questions Distributed: 

Due:

3/22

4/5

FINAL ESSAY ASSIGNMENT HANDED OUT

4/19

Homelessness assignment due

4/19

RESEARCH PAPERS AND FINAL ESSAYS DUE

May 7

May 4 for Seniors

On the next page, below is the schedule of topics and assignments.

Reading Assignments listed for a given week should be completed by the Tuesday of that week. The required reading for the week is indicated by the designation "Read." Other material -- almost exclusively hypertext links in blue -- are for your enrichment and browsing use. Some of this material is assigned and required. 

COURSE SCHEDULE

 

 

WEEK #

DATE

TOPIC/ READING ASSIGNMENT

 

 

1

1/16,18

Introduction: Singing Praise: Chicago: Hog Butcher to the World 

Urban sociology and urban studies 
Preview of course 
Negative stereotypes and urban difference 
Concepts:  Cities and Suburbs 

Assignments: 
1. Make sure you have a Clark computer account (or your own ISP) and send an email message to: Lisa_m_Collins@yahoo.com, with a copy torjsross@clarku.edu . Include your Box number andophone number.Make syure you send your email form the address you want us to use for you.This enables us to make a list of all class participants without typing out the addresses. Due: Wednesday, 5 PM, Jan 17. If you need help with this assignment, see Lisa Collins or Prof. Ross after the first class. 
2. Metro areas Online: Go to 
http://www.census.gov/population/www/estimates/aboutmetro.html Initial vocabulary: the metropolitan region defined. Send us an email answering this question:  What is the relation of central city, to MSA and PMSA to CMSA?  Give an illustration of the relationship with real places.You may find it useful to look at these units in Eastern MA. Due Tues. 1/23

 

 

2

1/23,25

Approach to the Topic / Early Urbanization 

READ: 
NK: Chapter Three 
Cradles of civilization 
LS: Childe pp. 22-30;Kitto 31-37.

Ancient urbanization: city and hinterland 

Relief map showing Fertile Crescent 

A view from the southeast overlooking the green 
expanse of the Nile delta, with the Suez Canal and portions of the Red Sea in the background. The  image, taken on June 4, 1965 from the Gemini 4  spacecraft, shows the earth's curvature on the  horizon. 
The nearest part of the shoreline includes the Rosetta branch of the River Nile. The maximum width of the delta along the Mediterranean coastline is about 250 km. The city of Alexandria is just below the bottom of the image. Faintly visible just down from the top right is the Jordan River Valley.  To the right, as the river narrows, is the area of the great pyramids. 

Classical antiquity : http://www.indiana.edu/~kglowack/athens/sites.html: Athens 

Images of Roman cities and culture:  http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~atlas/europe/images.html

GENERAL ONLINE RESOURCES: 
http://www.he.net/~archaeol/wwwarky/wwwarky.html: General archaeology web resource page 

 

3

1/30-2/1

FEUDALISM AND THE TRANSITION TO CAPITALISM

CASTLES AND COMMUNITY, CITIES AND MARKETS

Read:In LS, Pirenne: pp.36-44. Engels 46-55.

The Medieval Model of castle and community : 
http://www.castlewales.com/conwy.html: Conway Castle: A medieval castle, sheltering a Welsh town 

For a castle, first military, then Royal and a “show” chateau, see Loche, in the Loire:

http://www.a-castle-for-rent.com/castles/medieval.htm

http://www.vincent.nl/?/gallery/paintings/a136.htmRembrandt's Syndics of the Drapers Guild (1662): The emerging bourgeoisie in 17th Century Amsterdam 

 

4

2/6-2/8

Urban Theory 

READ: 
NK: Chapter 2 
From: LS:Mumford:What Is a City? and Louis Wirth: Urbanism as A Way of Life 

  • From Packet: Michael Peter Smith. 1979. "Chapter 5: Social Theory and Social Reality: A Critique." In The City and Social Theory. St. Martin's Press. 
  • On line: View: Worcesterdensity:  http://www.clarku.edu/~rross/worcesterdensity.html. Think about the consequences and determinants of density.  Be prepared to share your ideas on 1/18

 

5

2/13,15

U.S. URBANIZATION/STRUCTURAL OUTLINE OF URBAN AREAS 

READ 

  • NK: Chapter 5 & 6 
  • Now Is The Time:  Places Left Behind in the New Economy.  

·        LS: Burgess, 153-161.

Assignment: Go the web page :http://plue.sedac.ciesin.org/plue/ddviewer/ddv20/htmls/map-intro.html or to American Fact Finder:  http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/TMGeoSearchByListServlet?_lang=en&ds_name=DEC_1990_STF3_The first allows some more interesting map-making features. The second is more explicit about boundaries of metro areas, counties, etc.Choose the metropolitan region you are from;  make a map of median family income or race or Percent of persons in poverty; Print out the map and summarize what it says about who lives where.  How much does it resemble the Burgess model described in your text.  Submit the map and your one page answer by 2/15.  You may send the material by email (the map as an attachment) or print it out.

The address of  an example made with the first site is: http://www.clarku.edu/~rross/worcctylowincomesurface.gif and 
http://www.clarku.edu/~rross/worcpovpercent.gif

DUE: 2/15

Here is a map I made on August 25th 1999 at American Fact Finder: 

ON LINE RESOURCES 
http://www.census.gov/statab/www/ccdb.html: The City County Data Book. A general resource. 

 

6

2/20,22

Neighborhoods and Social Class 

For a slide show/lecture on neighborhoods:  Click here
READ 
NK: Chapter 9  LS: Wilson and Kelling:253-263. 

 

7

2/27-3/1

Coming to the City: Immigration and Migration 

READ 

$    NK: 7; 

$    Lemann  First half 

$    http://www.ins.usdoj.gov/graphics/aboutins/statistics/110.htm Gateway to Immigration and Naturalization Service Immigration Fact sheets 

ON LINE RESOURCES
http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/reader.cgi?auth=free&label=ul.book.0309063566 The National Academy of Sciences on Immigration and Employment Effects

 

 

8

3/13,15

Race and Migration to US Cities 


READ
NK: Chapter 8 Lemann: Second Half
http://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/race/black/tabs99/tab16.txt

Residence by metropolitan location and race, 1999

National distribution of Black population by County : 1990

http://www.census.gov/geo/www/mapGallery/images/black.jpg

Assignment: Due3/20 

Browse through the tables below: Write (at least) one page (double spaced) interpreting one table. 
http://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/race/black/tabs96/tab02-96.txt Social and Economic Characteristics of the Population, by Race, March 1996 
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/race/black99tabs.html Black Population in the U.S. 1999 List of Tables 

 

 

9

3/20,22

Urban Poverty and the Underclass Issue, I 

READ 

Wilson Part I 

TAKE HOME ESSAY: Questions Distributed: 3/22

 

 

10

3/27/29

Poverty II: Jobs Poverty and Race 

READ 

Wilson: Part II 

TAKE HOME ESSAY DUE 

ON LINE RESOURCES 
The ruins of Detroit:  http://www.bhere.com/ruins/toc.htm .

A study of residential location job opportunity and welfare recipiency in the Detroit area:http://www.ssw.umich.edu/poverty/jpam91.pdf

On the urban mismatch (between location of poor people's residence and the location of new jobs, see this page of resources from the Brookings Institution. http://www.brookings.org/urban/spatialmismatch.htm

 

 

11

4/3,5

Politics, Economic Development and Local Finance 

READ 
NK: 11, 12 

  • From Packet: From Edward Greer, Big Steel: Black Politics and Corporate Power in Gary, Indiana. Chapter 7: Tax Politics as Class Politics; Chapter 8: Environmental Regulation. 
  • David Barringer, "The New Urban Gamble." The American Prospect. 34 (Sept. Oct. 1997): 28-34.

Essay Due: 4/5

 

 

12

4/10,12

Urban Policy and Federal Politics 

READ 

NK: Chapter 13 

Some new issues: Energy/Environment 
The issue of urban sprawl:
http://www.smartgrowth.org/library/TTRoMA.html 

 

 

13

4/17,19

Focus on Housing: and Homelessness and Women's Issues 

READ 

  • NK: 10 



Online reading assignment: 


http://www2.ari.net/home/nch/facts.html: Gateway to fact sheetsfrom National Coalition on Homelessness 

Assignment:Compare the coalition's description of the homeless to the Government's.Due 4/19

 

 

14

4/24,26

GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES 

READ 
NK:4 
From Packet: Robert J.S. Ross and Kent Trachte: Excerpt from Global Capitalism... 
ON LINE RESOURCES 
About sustainable cities: http://www.indigodev.com/Sustain.html

Final essay assignment:click here

 

 

 

5/4 (Seniors) 5/7

ESSAY EXAMS AND RESEARCH PAPERS DUE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 






RESEARCH PAPER SCHEDULE SPRING 2001

 

ITEM

DATE DUE

Research Paper Option

February 6

Proposal First Draft 

February 27

Proposal second draft

March 13

Literature Review draft =/(10 items)

March 20

Literature Review =/ >15 items

March 27 

Draft Paper

April 12

Final Paper 

May (4) 7