The Social Worlds of New York WNY 303

Instructor: Philip Kasinitz

A glimpse of key social worlds in the great metropolis. The class will meet some of the men and women who make the city tick: city officials; cops and prosecutors; entrepreneurs and trade unionists; housing activists; Wall Street bankers; immigrant community leaders; coordinators of homeless shelters; and church leaders. The class will also go behind the scenes of important businesses, including the fashion and entertainment industries. In addition, each student will profile a city neighborhood and its social life, learned through participant observation and intensive interviews and analyses of public reports. Readings include E. B. White, Here is New York and Colson Whitehead, The Colossus of New York, as well as short pieces to orient students for group visits to different social worlds

Format: seminar
Requirements: full participation in the seminar, brief papers on class excursions, neighborhood profile, oral presentations