Susan Hoffmann, Ph.D., MUP
Office: 3414 Friedman
Phone: 387-5692
Email: susan.hoffmann@wmich.edu
Web page: http://homepages.wmich.edu/~shoffman
Office hours: Tues. and Thurs.: 1:30-4:00 pm and by appointment

Course Description:

This course is an introduction to urban politics in the United States. The issue that lies at the core of the academic study of urban politics is: To what extent do cities have control over their own circumstances? That is, how and how much can local citizens and officials influence the physical shape of the city, government operations, resources available, and opportunities for people to enjoy lives of quality? Complex internally and embedded in a web of larger social, economic and political dynamics, cities – some people argue – have little power to shape themselves.

Nevertheless, many people continue working hard to improve U.S. cities. Thus the first part of the course focuses on the ways people participate in the political life of their cities: through what sorts of groups do people engage with urban problems? In addition to talking about the kinds of groups that participate, we discuss two of the central issues around which citizen groups participate – community development and economic development. In Part II of the course, we step back from the current situation in the cities to look at how we got here historically, at major economic and social dynamics including industrialization and deindustrialization, immigration and internal migration, housing policy and markets, and institutionalized racism. In Part III, we return to the present time to consider prominent issues in urban governance: metropolitan fragmentation and regional growth, local finances, and public service delivery. I hope that as we move through the course, you will recognize issues of concern to you and discover ways to participate in addressing them that enrich your life while drawing you into the life of your community.

Reading:

Herson, Lawrence J.R. & John M. Bolland, Selected Material from The Urban Web. Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1998.

Sugrue, Thomas J., The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality in Postwar Detroit. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996.

Coursepack. Available at WMUBookstore

Attendance:

Attendance at lectures and recitation sections is required. Lecture meetings will be used for guest speakers, lectures that include material beyond what is in the book, and visual and audio art intended to reinforce important themes. Recitation sections will be used to discuss lectures and guest presentations, readings, and your assignments. As a practical matter, this class is too big for taking attendance at lecture; what we will do to motivate attendance is to announce any "question" for the week (details below) in lecture. Attendance will be recorded for recitation sections, however, and five points will be subtracted from the participation component of the grade for each absence. If a serious situation arises, please discuss with your TAattending a different one of his or her regularly scheduled sections or an excused absence.

Participation:

Okay, so I have to attend lectures and recitation sections, do I have to say anything? Given the size of our lecture group, there is no requirement to speak up in lecture, though there will be times when questions are invited and I hope some of you will have some, especially when we have guest speakers. In the recitations, we do want to hear from you because discussing it is an important way in which people grasp and retain new material. Your teaching assistant will thus be assigning a participation grade that will count as a part of the final course grade. Please remember that the utmost respect for fellow class members is in order when you listen to them and when you speak; we will be talking about politics and public policy, and there are some tough issues here. People's political views are often related to strongly held values --which may be in conflict with other people's strongly held values. Please be respectful of one another and open-minded.

Ground Rules for the Lecture Hall:

1) Please don't chat with one another during the lectures and guest presentations. I know this big lecture hall feels like a movie theater, where a little quiet interaction with one's companion is usually inoffensive, but I'm not a movie (nor are our guest speakers). I want to do a good job for you and that means I have to be thinking while I'm talking. It's distracting for me when students are chatting out there. Please don't.

2) If you want to catch me in the lecture hall with a question, please touch base after class, not before. Before class, I need to set up. Thanks very much.

3) Please turn off all cell phones, pagers and the sound on your laptops.

Questions:

Throughout the semester, you’ll be writing one-page responses to questions ("Q's") that will be announced in class on the readings and lecture material . Q's serve several purposes. First, I want to encourage you to complete assigned reading and think about material before it is discussed in your recitation section, thus you'll learn more. A second reason I assign questions is to give you frequent opportunities to write. People retain more when they discuss and write, as opposed to just reading and listening -- you might as well get your money's worth out of this course. Further, frequent writing provides practice: you'll get better at writing and this will help with your short paper which is due late in the semester. A final purpose for Q's is to motivate attendance: whether there is a question for the week and what it is will be announced in lecture. You need to be there to find out if a question is coming up, though if you are unable to attend for a serious reason, please ask a reliable classmate if a question was assigned or, as a last resort, email your TA. If you email the TA for a question, explain your reason for having missed class. The question will be due in the next recitation meeting.

Please format questions with half inch margins at top and bottom, 1 inch margins at left and right, 12 point font, double line spacing. At the top, place name and date due on one line. You may center a title below this, but a title is not required. Length is one page, unless something else is specified for a particular question. Bring two copies of your paper to recitation. One will be handed in upon arrival. The other you will use during the discussion -- you can add to your answer or revise it, and take it with you when you leave. The idea is that when you leave, you know what a good answer would be. You are likely to see variations of these questions again on exams.

There are two possible scores on a question: 1 (good enough) and 0 (not good enough). At the end of the semester, the scores will be summed and the standard grading scale applied to that total. For example, if we end up with 10 questions and your total score is 10 (100 percent), that will be an A. A total score of 9 would be equal to 90 percent, a BA. And so on. There are no late questions. If you are not in recitation to hand in a question, that will count as a zero. Please note, however: if you are unable to attend your recitation for a serious reason, advise your TA in advance and make an arrangement to turn in your work before the recitation. I plan to offer a bonus question this semester: you do not have to write this, but if you choose to do so, it can compensate for a missed question or add points to the "questions"component of your grade.

Short Paper:

Each student will write a short paper (three to four pages) on group participation in urban politics and policy. The paper will be about a group of your choice that is working on projects and/or programs in a city. Details will be provided in a handout.

Exams:

There will be three exams on assigned reading and material presented in class and recitations, including guest speaker presentations. Question formats will be T/F and multiple choice.

Grading:

The following scale is used for each component of the final grade and for the final grade itself.

A	93 - 100
BA	88 - 92
B	83 - 87
CB	78 - 82
C	73 - 77
DC	68 - 72
D	58 - 67
E	< E

The components of the final grade will be weighted as follows.

Short Paper	25%
Questions	20%
Participation	10%
Exam One	15%
Exam Two	15%
Exam Three	15%

These weights mean something. All aspects of the course count -- attendance, participation, questions, tests and the short paper. Within this structure, students with various learning styles can succeed. Tests, for example, aren't the whole story. They are important, but so are other opportunities to show that you are learning. Questions and participation count a lot – if you attend your recitation section regularly, speak up now and then, and earn a "1" on every assigned question, you will have an "A" for 30 percent of the total grade. Finally, notice that the short paper has the greatest weight; this is where I want you to pull it all together and show that you get what the course is about. Please don't wait until the week before it is due to begin working on this paper.

Academic Honesty:

Academic honesty is, or course, required. You are responsible for making yourself aware of and understanding the policies and procedures in the Undergraduate Catalog pertaining to academic integrity. These policies include cheating, fabrication, falsification and forgery, multiple submission, plagiarism, complicity and computer misuse. If there is reason to believe you have been involved in academic dishonesty, you may be referred to the Office of Student Judicial Affairs where you will be given the opportunity to review the charge(s). If you believe you are not responsible, you will have the opportunity for a hearing. You should consult with me if you are uncertain about an issue of academic honesty prior to the submission of an assignment or test.

Week

Origins of the Urban Crisis: Ch 1. Coursepack: "Hispanic Population up 10 percent in two years," "Hispanic population thriving in Edison."

Finalize short paper topic