AP/HIST 1095 6.00
Streetlife: The Culture and History of European Cities
This course uses a diverse range of materials and approaches to examine the development of the modern European city in the contemporary world. It uses cultural sources such as film, photography, literature and music to see how the experience of the modern European city has been represented from the nineteenth century to the present day. The course also uses the history of the modern European city to explore historical issues such as the experience of war, poverty and wealth, social reform, and the growth of cosmopolitanism and multiracialism. It explores the material space of urban development by looking at architecture, urban planning and housing. The course reflects upon current social and political issues in the modern European city, such as gentrification, popular protest and globalization. Though the course will discuss the culture and history of European cities, it focuses upon the examples of Paris and London from the mid nineteenth century to the present day. The course will explore the human experience of modern European cities, including discussions of race, gender, sexuality and class in the modern city, the physical shape of cities, and the cultural representation of city life. Particular topics covered include popular culture from café life to dancehalls; the photography of twentieth-century Paris; cosmopolitanism and the modern city; class conflicts in the city; the city on screen; fashion and postwar Paris and London; and radical movements in the city. Sources include novels such as Therèse Raquin by Emile Zola and Absolute Beginners by Colin MacInnes, the photography of Robert Frank and Roger Mayne and documents on the London Blitz. The emphasis in this course is developing skills such as analytical thinking, reading and writing.
Note: History majors and minors cannot take this course to satisfy the six credits required at the 1000-level in History for major or minor.