New Haven and the problem of change in the American city.

The American city has been seen as problematic at least since the time of Jefferson. Crowded, noisy, inflamed by dangerous ideas, harboring eccentric strangers, welcoming wave upon wave of unwashed immigrants, vulnerable to epidemic, notorious for crime and corruption, the city has been the object of endless moralizing, social engineering, and academic condescension. And yet, for all that, the American city has been wonderful: our nation’s great wellspring of creativity, its great site for intensive production, its laboratory for the technological and organizational means by which national wealth has expanded at breathtaking speed. New Haven is one such city, and this course is designed to examine its problems and promise within the larger historical context of American urbanism. New Haven is a fine “model” for the larger issues of city life. A leading location for urban scholarship across several generations, and small enough to learn well in a short period, New Haven is a great place to learn about the great saga of city life in the New World.