1. Explore and analyze some of Chicago's vital urban neighborhood literature (short stories and novels).
• Tony Ardizzone, Taking It All Home
• Sandra Cisneros, The House on Mango Street
• Stuart Dybeck, The Coast of Chicago, and Childhood and Other Neighborhoods
• Gayle Pemberton, The Hottest Water in Chicago
• Angela Jackson, Plenty n Astonishment AND Sandra Jackson-Opoku, "Sweet Jesus Club," in Steve Bosak, South Side Stories (City Stoop Press)
• Any stories from New Chicago Stories, ed. Fred Gardaphe (City Stoop Press)
• Tina De Rosa, Paper Fish
• Studs Terkel, Division Street, AMERICA
2. Explore and analyze an URBAN NOVEL, for example:
• Upton Sinclair, The Jungle
• Richard Wright, Native Son
• Nelson Algren, Man with The Golden Arm
• Pietro deDonato, Christ in Concrete
3. Explore and analyze other URBAN FILMS, for example:
• Killer of Sheep
• Chinatown
• Spike Lee, Jungle Fever and Do the Right Thing
• L.A. Confidential
• Boyz in the Hood
• El Norte
• Brother from Another Planet
• On the waterfront
• Streetwise
• Roger and Me
• Just Another Girl on the I.R.T.
4. Examine and analyze the materials for one of the supplementary units of this course:
• THE CONSUMPTIVE CITY: Capitals of Unreality
• Written texts:

James Howard Kunstler, "Capitals of Unreality," (Ch 12) in The Geography of Nowhere
The Theming of America , Ch 2, pp.16-42, and pp.98-108 on "Las Vegas Casinos"
Lauren Rabinowitz, "Eve in the Garden of Desire: The Department Store and the
Woman Who Looks," (ch 3) of For The Love of Pleasure
Alan Trachtenberg, "Mysteries of the Great City," (Ch4-pt 4) in The Incorporation of America
A Shout in the Street Ch 2, Paris (pp.99-114), On desire and commodities
Margaret Crawford, "The World in a Shopping Mall," in Sorkin, Variations on Theme Park
• Film/Video Texts:

Karl Marx and Marxism (Stuart Hall),
Marxist Philosophy
Martin Scorsese, Casino
• TECH NOIR: The Postmodern City
• Written texts:

Scott Bukattman, Blade Runner (BFI Modern Classics), pp.7 -12, 42-65
Julian Bleecker, "Urban Crisis: Past, Present, and Virtual, in Socialist Review, v.24, no.1-2
• Film/Video Texts:

Ridley Scott, Blade Runner
CD-Rom: Sim City 2000
• THE SUB-URBAN
• Written Texts:

James Howard Kunstler, "Joyride," "Evil Empire," (Chs 6 & 7), The Geography of Nowhere
Herbert J. Gans, Levittown and America," (pp.63-68) in The City Reader Chapter 9, The Urban Experience
• Film/Video Texts:

Video Clips: 1950's Television: The Honeymooners vs. The Dick Van Dyke Show
Film Clips: Tim Burton, Edward Scissorhands
Spike Lee, Crooklyn
Barry Levison, Avalon
5. Examine the media presentation of a particular social group or urban issue. You may consider print, radio, television news, television sitcoms, film, documentary, photography, etc.
6. Examine the media presentation of a non-U.S. city/cities. Consider the differences in global images of the urban.
7. Examine the media presentation of the labor movement in Chicago (i.e. use archives to trace differing portrayals of the Haymarket Riots.)
8. Examine the media presentation of Chicago-related events of the Civil Rights movement (i.e. Dr, King's Chicago March, etc.).
9. Extend your research into the Chicago World's Fair and its presentation of the Urban.
10. Prepare a critical essay on urban photography/the work of an urban photographer, for example: Vergara, The New American Ghetto
11. Create a critical essay on an "urban" painter, for example: Edward Hopper, Kerry Marshall.
12. Consider the historical relationship of radio to urban planning/policy: See esp. Michelle Hilmes, Radio Voices
13. Research and analyze the ideologies found in the "ideal town" of Disney's Celebration.
14. Extend your research into the many scholars considering the gendered nature of public space.
15. Explore (research, interview community leaders, etc.) issues of Gentrification and Community in Chicago Neighborhoods such as Pilsen, Humboldt Park, West Town, etc.
16. Study the unique patterns of urban religious practice in North America.  To see a range of possible topics, consult Robert Orsi, Ed., Gods of the City.
17. Explore the issues of urban sprawl, white flight, or other themes connected to the movement of city folks to the suburbs. For starters, try Ray Suarez, The Old Neighborhood.
18. You may develop any short paper topic from this semester into a full-length project.