Chicago Studies

This is an archived copy of the 2012-13 catalog. To access the most recent version of the catalog, please visit http://catalogs.uchicago.edu.

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Contacts

Undergraduate Primary Contact

Director Chad Broughton
G-B 218A (mail to G-B 310)
834.9810
Email

Website

http://chicagostudies.uchicago.edu

The Chicago Studies Program incorporates opportunities for students to engage academically and experientially with the city of Chicago. The Program seeks to provide students with occasions to study Chicago in much the same way that they study other major cities of the world by participating in civilization studies study abroad programs. When students are abroad they enjoy a unique chance to combine, under the direction of Chicago faculty and local community members, classroom work, reading, writing, and experiential learning in world-class cities. With Chicago Studies, the College seeks to make possible the same kinds of intensive academic and experiential encounters with Chicago.

Chicago Studies publishes in book form the Chicago Studies Annual, a journal containing the best essays written by College students on the city of Chicago—its history, politics, and cultural life. A selection committee of College faculty considers submissions, which may be from any discipline. Essays then undergo a rigorous editing process.

Chicago Studies includes any College course in which some aspect of the city's life and culture plays an important role. The Program includes close collaboration between the College and the University Community Service Center (UCSC). Chicago Studies also works closely with Career Advising and Planning Services to identify Metcalf Internships that will give College students opportunities for substantive internships with organizations engaged in the life of the city.

Under the aegis of Chicago Studies, UCSC creates co-curricular experiences in conjunction with faculty in the College. Faculty may draw on the services and the expertise of UCSC to create experiences in the city that are relevant to a particular course. At the same time, independent of particular courses, UCSC facilitates student and faculty access to resources and events in the city and about the city.

UCSC also works with students to connect to organizations and institutions in the Chicago area. Students can connect with community organizations through individual volunteer referral, off-campus work-study positions, and volunteer and paid summer opportunities with community organizations and institutions. Sponsored by the College, UCSC's Summer Links Internship Program matches thirty University of Chicago students in full-time, paid, substantive internships with nonprofit and public organizations in the city.

Many College courses offer opportunities to study aspects of Chicago's culture, politics, history, social structure, and economic life. The courses listed below are only a sample of what is available.

Courses

ANTH 21201. Intensive Study of a Culture: Chicago Blues. 100 Units.

This course is an anthropological and historical exploration of one of the most original and influential American musical genres in its social and cultural context. We examine transformations in the cultural meaning of the blues and its place within broader American cultural currents, the social and economic situation of blues musicians, and the political economy of blues within the wider music industry.

Instructor(s): M. Dietler Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): CRES 21201

ANTH 24511-24512. Anthropology of Museums I-II.

This sequence examines museums from a variety of perspectives. We consider the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, the image and imagination of African American culture as presented in local museums, and museums as memorials, as exemplified by Holocaust exhibitions. Several visits to area museums required.

ANTH 24511. Anthropology of Museums I. 100 Units.

Instructor(s): M. Fred Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): Advanced standing and consent of instructor
Equivalent Course(s): ANTH 34502,CHDV 38101,CRES 34501,MAPS 34500,SOSC 34500

ANTH 24512. Anthropology of Museums II. 100 Units.

Instructor(s): M. Fred Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): Advanced standing or consent of instructor
Equivalent Course(s): CRES 34502,SOSC 34600

ARTH 17400. University of Chicago Campus. 100 Units.

An introduction to architecture and planning, this course examines the changes in thinking about the University campus from its origins in the 1890s to the present. Many of the University’s choices epitomize those shaping American architecture generally and some of our architects are of national significance. The course develops skill in analyzing architecture and urban form in order to interpret: how the University images itself in masonry, metal, and lawn; how it works with architects; the role of buildings in social and intellectual programs and values; the effects of campus plans and the siting of individual buildings; and the impact of technological change. Includes many sessions around campus and study of archival documents.

Instructor(s): K. Taylor Terms Offered: Spring
Note(s): Students must attend first class to confirm enrollment. For nonmajors, any ARTH 17000 through 18999 course meets the general education requirement in the dramatic, musical, and visual arts.

ARTV 23930. Documentary Production I. 100 Units.

This class is intended to develop skills in documentary production so that students may apply for Documentary Production II. Documentary Production I focuses on the making of independent documentary video. Examples of various styles of documentary will be screened and discussed. Issues embedded in the documentary genre, such as the ethics and politics of representation and the shifting lines between fact and fiction will be explored. Pre-production methodologies, production, and post-production techniques will be taught. Students will be expected to develop an idea for a documentary video, crews will be formed, and each crew will produce a five-minute documentary. Students will also be expected to purchase an external hard drive.

Instructor(s): J. Hoffman Terms Offered: Autumn
Note(s): Prior or concurrent enrollment in CMST 10100 recommended
Equivalent Course(s): ARTV 33930,CMST 23930,CMST 33930,HMRT 25106,HMRT 35106

ARTV 23931. Documentary Production II. 100 Units.

This course focuses on the shaping and crafting of a nonfiction video. Students are expected to write a treatment detailing their project. Production techniques focus on the handheld camera versus tripod, interviewing and microphone placement, and lighting for the interview. Postproduction covers finishing techniques. Students then screen final projects in a public space.

Instructor(s): J. Hoffman Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): CMST 23930, HMRT 25106,or ARTV 23930
Equivalent Course(s): ARTV 33931,CMST 23931,CMST 33931,HMRT 25107,HMRT 35107

BIOS 13113. Prairie Ecosystems: Lessons of Sustainability in the Past, Present, and Future. 100 Units.

Warm coat and ability to walk five miles required. This course looks at the Midwest prairie as a model ecosystem. How and when did grasslands evolve? And where and when did they become established? How many species and biotrophic levels are interconnected in a regularly disturbed environment? Are there keystone species? What are the ecological forces that maintain, destroy, and restore balance? Glacial retreat, fire, deep-rooted perennial grasses, large herbivores, deforestation, industrial agriculture, and biofuels are covered. We then apply what we have we learned from the grasslands to live sustainably.

Instructor(s): J. Borevitz Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): BIOS 10130
Equivalent Course(s): ENST 13113

BPRO 21500. What Is Civic Knowledge? 100 Units.

What is civic knowledge? Although civic rights and duties are supposedly universal to all citizens in a “democratic” nation, their implementation often depends on the strength of community connections and the circulation of knowledge across racial, class, and social boundaries. Focusing on the city of Chicago, we ask how citizens (in their roles as citizens) forge communities, make urban plans, and participate in civic affairs. How does the city construct the public spheres of its residents? Are the social practices of Chicagoans truly “democratic?” Could they be? What does “Chicago” stand for, as a political and cultural symbol? For both Chicagoans and their representatives, the circulation of knowledge depends not only on conventional media but also on how the city is constructed and managed through digital media.

Instructor(s): R. Schultz, M. Browning. Terms Offered: Not Offered 2012-2013; Will be offered 2013-2014
Prerequisite(s): Third- or fourth-year standing

CMST 21801. Chicago Film History. 100 Units.

Students in this course screen and discuss films to consider whether there is a Chicago style of filmmaking. We trace how the city informs documentary, educational, industrial, narrative feature, and avant-garde films. If there is a Chicago style of filmmaking, one must look at the landscape of the city; and the design, politics, cultures, and labor of its people, as well as how they live their lives. The protagonists and villains in these films are the politicians and community organizers, our locations are the neighborhoods, and the set designers are Mies van der Rohe and the Chicago Housing Authority.

Instructor(s): J. Hoffman
Equivalent Course(s): ARTV 26750,ARTV 36750,CMST 31801,HMRT 25104,HMRT 35104

ECON 26600. Economics of Urban Policies. 100 Units.

This course covers tools needed to analyze urban economics and address urban policy problems. Topics include a basic model of residential location and rents; income, amenities, and neighborhoods; homelessness and urban poverty; decisions on housing purchase versus rental (e.g., housing taxation, housing finance, landlord monitoring); models of commuting mode choice and congestion and transportation pricing and policy; urban growth; and Third World cities.

Instructor(s): G. Tolley, J. Felkner Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): ECON 20100
Equivalent Course(s): GEOG 26600,GEOG 36600,LLSO 26202,PBPL 24500

ENST 13113-27100-27201-27301-29720. Prairie Ecosystems: Lessons of Sustainability in the Past, Present, and Future; Integrative Research Seminar: Calumet; Food Security and Agriculture: Calumet; Restoration Ecology; Reading and Research: Calumet.

ENST 13113. Prairie Ecosystems: Lessons of Sustainability in the Past, Present, and Future. 100 Units.

Instructor(s): J. Borevitz Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): BIOS 10130
Equivalent Course(s): BIOS 13113

ENST 27100. Integrative Research Seminar: Calumet. 100 Units.

This course examines the history of land use and social and environmental issues in the Calumet region. In addition to discussing the Calumet region broadly, students develop final projects grounded in research from all courses in the field studies program. Talks and discussions are led each week by guest lecturers who represent industry, nonprofit organizations, or Chicago government, or who are conducting research within the Calumet region.

Instructor(s): M. McLeester Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): Enrollment is based on acceptance into Calumet Quarter Program. Visit pge.uchicago.edu/calumet for application. ENST 27200 and at least one of ENST 27300 and 13113 must be taken concurrently. All day field work required.

ENST 27201. Food Security and Agriculture: Calumet. 100 Units.

Do you know where your next meal will come from? Many people around the world, and even close to home, do not. The Food and Agricultural Organization explains that food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. Food security is thus a complex issue involving aspects of food production and distribution, poverty, buying power, and social networks, and cultural choice. In this course we use the Calumet region as a case study to examine some aspects of the food security debate, especially the basic conceptual divide between the framework of food security, as defined by international organizations above, and the more grass-roots notion of food sovereignty. Though we will aim for an overview of the issues, we focus this quarter more specifically on issues of agriculture and the food system, including urban agriculture, permaculture, and other challenges to the dominant industrial model. In a region with significant economic distress and area of “food desert,” the Calumet presents examples of both challenge and response to this critical topic.

Instructor(s): K. Morrison Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): Enrollment is based on acceptance into Calumet Quarter Program.

ENST 27301. Restoration Ecology. 100 Units.

This course will give students a strong foundation in the discipline of restoration ecology, building up from basic ecological principles to concepts and theory applied to restoration of ecosystems. We will evaluate restoration projects based on a discussion of primary literature with a focus on ecosystems found in the Calumet region. The course will also have a strong field component, and students will work on restoration projects in the Calumet area. Wetland restoration will be a primary focus, and projects will include studies of plant and bird diversity as well as water quality evaluations. The fieldwork will form the basis of the students’ own case studies in restoration ecology, and students will write reports on their field work, analyzing their own projects in the context of the larger body of wetland restoration literature.

Instructor(s): T. Massad Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): Enrollment is based on acceptance into Calumet Quarter Program.

ENST 29720. Reading and Research: Calumet. 100 Units.

The Program on the Global Environment will be hosting many interesting guest speakers during the Calumet Quarter, and this readings course will be dedicated primarily to the discussion of relevant articles written by the speakers. This will acquaint students with literature on a variety of topics ranging from food security to wetlands ecology to conservation theory. Students will be expected to discuss the articles, drawing on knowledge gained in the three core Calumet courses. Students will also attend the guest presentations and write short responses to the lectures.

Instructor(s): T. Massad Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): Enrollment is based on acceptance into Calumet Quarter Program.

ENST 27200. The Calumet Experience. 100 Units.

This course is the field component of the Calumet Quarter. Throughout the quarter, students visit restoration sites, historical landmarks, industrial zones, and conservation zones throughout the Calumet region. In addition to day-long field trips, students are expected to attend weekly lunch sessions (lunch is provided) with professionals through the Calumet region and the Calumet Research Summit in April.

Instructor(s): R. Keller Terms Offered: Spring

ENST 27300. Freshwater Ecosystems of the Calumet Region. 100 Units.

The Calumet region contains a wide range of important freshwater ecosystems. The Great Lakes are possibly the world's most valuable freshwater ecosystem, while the Kankakee marshes previously supported a massive diversity and abundance of waterfowl and other native species. Since European colonization most of the marshes of the Calumet region have been drained for agriculture, urbanization, or to create new land for industry. All remaining freshwater ecosystems in the Calumet region, including Lake Michigan, have been affected by invasive species, chemical pollution, overfishing, and numerous other factors. This course examines the history of impacts on the extent and functioning of freshwater ecosystems in the Calumet region. Particular attention is paid to the pre-European state of Calumet freshwaters, the impacts of land-use change and invasive species, and the prospects for restoration. The entire course is framed within the context of the economic conditions that allowed freshwater habitats in the Calumet region to be so strongly modified and how current economic conditions affect the likely future of these ecosystems.

Instructor(s): R. Keller Terms Offered: Spring

GEOG 23500. Urban Geography. 100 Units.

This course examines the spatial organization and current restructuring of modern cities in light of the economic, social, cultural, and political forces that shape them. It explores the systematic interactions between social process and physical system. We cover basic concepts of urbanism and urbanization, systems of cities urban growth, migration, centralization and decentralization, land-use dynamics, physical geography, urban morphology, and planning. Field trip in Chicago region required.

Instructor(s): M. Conzen Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): This course offered in even years.
Equivalent Course(s): GEOG 35300

GEOG 26100. Roots of the Modern American City. 100 Units.

This course traces the economic, social, and physical development of the city in North America from pre-European times to the mid-twentieth century. We emphasize evolving regional urban systems, the changing spatial organization of people and land use in urban areas, and the developing distinctiveness of American urban landscapes. All-day Illinois field trip required.

Instructor(s): M. Conzen Terms Offered: Autumn
Note(s): This course offered in odd years.
Equivalent Course(s): ENST 26100,GEOG 36100,HIST 28900,HIST 38900

PBPL 24751. The Business of Non-Profits: The Evolving Social Sector. 100 Units.

Led by an experienced practitioner, this course aims to provide both an intellectual and experiential understanding of the contemporary nonprofit sector. In addition to a seminar component examining the rapidly evolving social sector, students engage in a hands-on consulting project for an area nonprofit involving analysis, reporting and presentation.

Instructor(s): D. Schwartz Terms Offered: Autumn, Winter, Spring

PBPL 25405. Child Poverty and Chicago Schools. 100 Units.

This discussion-based course begins with a sociological and historical examination of child poverty, focusing on its origin, experience, and perpetuation in disadvantaged Chicago communities. Class meetings involve debating recent reform efforts, such as Turnaround Schools, Renaissance 2010, and Promise Neighborhoods. Further, the barriers that have contributed to the failure of previous reform initiatives—barriers that include social isolation, violence, and criminality—are identified and analyzed in-depth.

Instructor(s): C. Broughton Terms Offered: Spring

PBPL 26200-26300. Field Research Project in Public Policy I-II.

This is a group project that exposes students to real-world policy-making questions and several field-based research methodologies. Students work together on designing the research project, gathering information, and analyzing the data. Practicums have dealt with the employment and housing conditions facing Latinos in metropolitan Chicago, juvenile recidivism, and patterns of racial integration and segregation in the suburbs of Chicago. Two sections of this field research practicum will be offered each year. Section 1 will be offered in Autumn and Winter Quarter, and Section 2 will be offered in Winter and Spring Quarter.

PBPL 26200. Field Research Project in Public Policy I. 100 Units.

Instructor(s): E. Carter, Autumn; C. Broughton, Winter Terms Offered: Autumn, Winter
Prerequisite(s): Open to nonmajors with consent of instructor
Note(s): Must be taken in sequence for two separate grades, one for each quarter.

PBPL 26300. Field Research Project in Public Policy II. 100 Units.

Instructor(s): E. Carter, Winter; C. Broughton, Spring Terms Offered: Winter, Spring
Prerequisite(s): Open to nonmajors with consent of instructor
Note(s): Must be taken in sequence for two separate grades, one for each quarter.

PBPL 28501. Process and Policy in State and City Government. 100 Units.

This course consists of three interrelated sub-sections: (1) process and policy in city and state government; (2) the role played by influential, key officials in determining policy outcomes; and (3) policymaking during and after a political crisis. Issues covered include isolating the core principles driving policy at city and state levels; understanding how high level elected officials can shape the course of policy; and determining how a political crisis affects policy processes and outcomes. Most of the specific cases are drawn from Chicago and the State of Illinois.

Instructor(s): C. Harris Terms Offered: Autumn, Winter, Spring

SOSC 25501-25502-25503. Schools and Communities; Human Development and Learning; Teaching and Learning in Urban Schools.

This is a yearlong sequence on the foundations of education in urban contexts.

SOSC 25501. Schools and Communities. 100 Units.

This course focuses on communities, families, and the organization of schools. It emphasizes historical, anthropological, and sociological perspectives as students explore questions about why we have public schools, why they are organized as they are (especially in urban contexts), and how these institutions might be reformed. The topics covered represent essential intellectual perspectives for any professional who seeks to work in an urban school context. This course has been designed to afford students with multiple analytic lenses to complement and integrate students' field experiences, tutoring work, and "soul strand" reflections across the year. The course project requires students to use what they have learned to conduct an in-depth school study.

Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): UTEP 35501

SOSC 25502. Human Development and Learning. 100 Units.

The focus of this course is the child, and the course provides a variety of lenses through which to look at children. Using the rich professional resources of the Center for Urban School Improvement and the University of Chicago Charter School, students are introduced to approaches to observing children for different purposes; the prominent, and sometimes contradictory, theories of learning and child development; what we know about motivation and engagement and implication for the classroom; and the sociocultural contexts that influence both student performance and the way we look at children. Each section of the course includes an observation assignment that builds towards the final assignment of producing a study of a schoolchild that the student has tutored.

Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): UTEP 35502

SOSC 25503. Teaching and Learning in Urban Schools. 100 Units.

In this course, students not only survey philosophies of education but also participate in philosophy by engaging in the kind of questions to which philosophers seek answers. The guide is John Dewey, the philosopher who has left the deepest stamp on the University of Chicago in general and the Urban Teacher Education Program (UChicago UTEP) in particular. This course includes a look at the work of Dewey, his contemporary counterparts, and his critics. Students also explore the influence of philosophy on teaching and learning, especially as it pertains to curriculum. For the final assignment, students conduct a teacher study and revise their own philosophy in light of the course readings and discussions.

Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): UTEP 35503

SOCI 20104. Urban Structure and Process. 100 Units.

This course reviews competing theories of urban development, especially their ability to explain the changing nature of cities under the impact of advanced industrialism. Analysis includes a consideration of emerging metropolitan regions, the microstructure of local neighborhoods, and the limitations of the past U.S. experience as a way of developing worldwide urban policy.

Instructor(s): O. McRoberts Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): CRES 20104,GEOG 22700,GEOG 32700,SOCI 30104,SOSC 25100

SOCI 20116. Global-Local Politics. 100 Units.

Globalizing and local forces are generating a new politics in the United States and around the world. This course explores this new politics by mapping its emerging elements: the rise of social issues, ethno-religious and regional attachments, environmentalism, gender and life-style identity issues, new social movements, transformed political parties and organized groups, and new efforts to mobilize individual citizens.

Instructor(s): T. Clark Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): HMRT 20116,HMRT 30116,PBPL 27900,SOCI 30116

2012-13 College Catalog

Chicago Studies

Contacts

Undergraduate Primary Contact

Website

Courses