I figured the best celebration would be ...... emailing you the first of the Discussion Questions :-)
You may have noticed that we will be discussing the opening chapters from the text over two weeks. That is because I figured that there is always a possibility that a student or two might not have the book yet--for whatever logistical reasons.
Which is why I have for you the essay from the summer 2009 issue of Dissent: "What is an American City?" The author, Michael Katz, makes a lot of reference to Jane Jacobs' immensely influential book from years past and there is a chance you feel like you have walked into the middle of a conversation. Don't feel threatened by that. Read it, re-read it, and you will zoom into some of the urban characteristics and growth dynamics that are uniquely American.
After you have all your notes from that essay, read this report from the Wall Street Journal on "The next hot youth-magnet cities." If you fall into the demographic that is discussed in this report, well, you might even have some personal opinions on it.
So, after having read the essay in Dissent, and the report in the Wall Street Journal, I bet you will want to share your thoughts with somebody. My job is to provide you with that outlet so that you don't end up talking about this to unappreciative family members who decide that their lives will become nightmarish because you will want to talk about your class 24x7 .....
Your task:
Any compare/contrast on the "American city" and the "youth-magnet cities" that you think merits discussing with the class.
Constraints:
- DO NOT send a separate email to the class about this. Always hit "reply" without altering the subject line so that we can all easily keep track of the conversations.
- Your opinions ought to be appropriately supported by evidence from the two readings.
- After the first couple of responses, and ideally, a discussion will be a conversation amongst the students. This is how we do it in the real world, and we will try to replicate it as much in the cyberworld too.
- While one well-informed and well-thought out response (about 75-100 words) is all that is required, you may post longer responses or as many responses as you want, just as in class many of us are more eager than others to participate in conversations.
- And, of course, as stated in the contract for this class, your responses are due before Sunday noon.
A trivial endnote here:
Dissent is a left-of-center publication, and the Wall Street Journal comes from the other side of the political spectrum.
