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In the late nineteenth century there was an ongoing debate about the big city, not only in America but also in several countries of Europe. Cities were considered as bifaced, foci of modernity and at the same time places of hardship and depravity. In this course students will be first introduced to the development of American big cities in the East: New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington DC and Chicago and to the consciousnesss of urbanism as a way of life. There will be lectures on the early development of the settlements, on the impact of the Industrial revolution, on nineteenth century immigration, on ethnicity and racism, on urban politics and on metropolitanization. Some relevant texts of the Chicago School of Sociology will be analysed and discussed. Also European developments in urban history will be studied as a background for the American history of big cities.Following a general survey of urban life in the United States the second part of this course will focus on Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.The course will be followed by an excursion to Philadelphia. |
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