Fall

History/Urban Studies 971: History of American Urban Problems

Fall 2020, Thursdays, 4:00 p.m.-6:40 p.m. Amanda I. Seligman, Professor

This course examines how historians understand urban problems. Cities have been

described as consisting of “clusters of problems,” and this course aims to unpack some of

those specific problems with an eye toward understanding the history of cities more

broadly. A major purpose of the class is for students to understand how historians produce

their scholarship; this is achieved through extensive archival (or other appropriate primary

source) research and writing a 5000-word research paper in several discrete stages. By

reading and discussing several examples of historical scholarship, students will prepare to

write research papers and present their findings to others in the class. The assigned

readings focus on the United States, but students are by no means obligated to confine

accessed in electronic copies through the UWM Libraries website. Other shorter

readings are posted on the course Canvas site and linked online.

The books ordered for the class are:

Taylor, Keeanga-Yamahtta. Race for Profit: How Banks and the Real Estate Industry

Undermined Black Homeownership. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina

Press, 2019.

If you have never written a lengthy historical research paper based on primary sources, I

recommend you purchase and read the following book, as assigned throughout the

semester:

Fall

Brundage, Anthony. Going to the Sources: A Guide to Historical Research and Writing,

6

th

If you plan to do any further graduate level work in history, I recommend you purchase

Although the older editions of Turabian are fine for most basic forms of citation (with the

exception of digital materials and a few odd rules that have changed recently), please be

aware that the recommended reading selections from Turabian are from the 8

editions only. Alternatively, you can use the Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS), which is

available online through the UWM library at the following address:

https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/home.html (note that you may need to access this

through the library website using your UWM login credentials; enter “Chicago Manual of

Style online” into the search box). There are minor differences between Turabian and

of the semester, I will hold individual conferences to discuss your progress and problems

you encounter. You will also “remix” your paper for a public audience and present your

results (or planned products) to the class. The last three weeks of class consist of student

with me as the need arises, during office hours, via email, or by appointment.

As a means of preparing you to write the final research paper, several assignments are due

over the course of the semester. Their due dates are noted in the course schedule section

of this syllabus, but they are described in greater depth here. All assignments will also be

discussed in class, before they are due and then afterwards to process your learning about

Library, in the Archives, Special Collections, Microtext

1

, or AGSL because the

staff support of those collections is so excellent. This semester, however, as a

hedge against the possibility of disruptions due to COVID-19, I am strongly

1

For microtext materials that might be acceptable, go to http://uwm.edu/libraries/media/microtext-collections-

Fall

final papers. For this assignment, you should identify one traditional archival

collection held at UWM, one item held by UWM Special Collections, and one

already digitized archival collection or published primary source that you might

finding aids for each collection. It is also advisable to dip into the collections and

should alert me to your needs and consult with a member of the Archives or

Special Collections staff to see if materials for a paper for this course can be

digitized to support your research.

October 1: Primary Source paper

the Golda Meir Library Archives. These items will be held on the reserve shelf

in the Archives for our class until this assignment is due. As a backup, the

Archives staff will make a digitized set of these materials. If at all possible,

however, I strongly recommend you use these materials in person in order to

Administration Records), Box 18, files 31 and 32 (titled “Spanish

Speaking Community, 1970” and “Spanish Speaking Outreach Institute,

1970-1972”)

research on which most historical writing is based and to help you anticipate the

kinds of materials and time you will need to locate in order to produce a first-rate

final research paper. You may find on completing this assignment that one of your

September 24 proposed topics no longer seems feasible.

submit through Canvas, upload a copy of your paper to Google Docs or UWM’s

Fall

who worked with the same materials in order to learn about how different people

that will form the basis of your final paper. Write a page or so describing the

paper you anticipate writing, how the collection relates to that topic, and what

kinds of secondary sources you might need to help you understand what is going

on in the collection.

on being able to change your topic later on in the semester if this collection does

not pan out. You might rethink the kinds of questions your material leads you to

ask, but you should stick with the collection you choose now. This means that you

should make sure now that the collection you plan to work with is “juicy” enough

this assignment.

October 29: secondary bibliography

sources will be reviewed in the Week 8 Library Instruction session.

Metropolitan Milwaukee and Encyclopedia of Milwaukee DigBib are very

working on. For example, if you are studying housing, you may wish to include

Part II, especially, should be a combination of books and articles.

bibliography.

write the paper due November 19 (although you are not committing to reading

everything on the list you submit, just the two most important books). Due to

the UWM Libraries’ health and safety protocols related to the COVID-19

pandemic, I advise you to budget extra time in your schedule for collecting the

books you plan to read.

Fall

from.

paper. Alternatively, you might prefer to use this opportunity to produce a “think

piece” in which you outline the argument you anticipate making in your final

paper.

discovering and thinking about in the course of your research and to sustain a

conversation with me about the character of your final project.

November 10 (a Tuesday!): Remix

execute your remix would require significantly more than 750 words, you should

submit a summary and plan rather than the remixed project. For example, if you

decide the most appropriate way to remix your research project is with a museum

exhibit, you should sketch out the exhibit locale and structure, its intended

audience, and a description of what you would include rather than build an actual

exhibit or even a full exhibit plan. Note that even some possible remixes that are

short by word count might take too long to execute than we have allotted time this

Fall

to get across) rather than a finished product.

acceptable as a remix but cannot be uploaded to Canvas. In that case, consider

assignment, see my Twitter thread on the topic at

https://twitter.com/AmandaISeligman/status/1073274077186588672.

that informs your research topic. You should pick the two most important books

Fall

Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations or The

Chicago Manual of Style. A handout to be distributed and reviewed in class can

be used as a guideline but will not cover all possible citation forms. The

University of Chicago Press’s Quick Guide is available here:

me about resequencing your assignments to keep you on track to successful completion of

the semester.

Fall

regularly, you will get 10 out of 10 points. The other half will come from my assessment

of your contribution to your classmates’ learning, which will be derived in two ways.

First, I will give each of you a score from 1-10 reflecting my assessment of your

contributions to the group. Second, I will survey the class at the end of the semester and

You are graduate students committed to advanced education. I appreciate that you are

balancing multiple personal and professional commitments with your education and will

try to avoid being unnecessarily absent or disengaged from class. Due to the ongoing

with someone with a positive diagnosis, are in quarantine, or are showing symptoms

associated with COVID-19 such as fever. For reliable information about COVID-19, see

the Wisconsin Department of Health Services website, available at

https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/covid-19/index.htm. Even when class is scheduled to

meet in person in fall 2020, I am providing alternatives for remote learning for each week

of class. If you cannot and should come to class, you can still keep up with the content

group. Try to avoid turning in work late. Because the work in this class is tightly

scaffolded, you should not plan to skip assignments or do some later than others. If you

are unable to turn in your work on time, please open a dialogue with me about what is

generous with extensions and want to help you succeed in your education.

I have taught this class for twenty years as a face-to-face enterprise. Because of COVID-

19, however, it is possible that we will be unable to meet in person occasionally or for

library instruction, which will all be delivered remotely and asynchronously, for example,

will not run for the entire allotted time. Similarly, we may opt to give class presentations

at the end of the semester online instead of in person. For details of planned activities for

each week, see the course Canvas page. I will communicate with you through Canvas and

Fall

your UWM email account. Please check these accounts regularly for updates. When you

do attend class in person, please wear a mask. Even if you are certain you are not

contagious, your mask will offer reassurance to your classmates and allow all of us to

focus on the task at hand.

accordingly. You will have the option to participate in synchronous class sessions

through video conferencing (I hope!), but this is not required. There are asynchronous

options for all class learning activities. There are discussion boards sprinkled liberally

throughout the Canvas page; I encourage you to use them even if you are coming to class

in person as a way of deepening and extending your learning and the learning of your

classmates.

Because I have never taught online before, I am implementing a weekly request for

feedback. I assume that many of you have taken online classes before, and that those of

you with teaching experience may have taught online. The survey is a simple two

question quiz: What worked well this week? What changes would have improved this

Please bring a laptop, phone, or mobile device to class to facilitate communication with

students working remotely and for certain activities. If you do not have access to one of

these machines, please let me know so we can work to make such equipment available to