Weekly Schedule

Fall Quarter Readings
Week 1 - Selected articles
Week 2 - City Life. Witold Rybczynski
Week 3 - Dreams and Stones, Magdalena Tulli.
Week 4 - Dance in the City Helen Thomas
Week 5 - Blue Chicago: The Search for Authenticity in Urban Blues Clubs, David Grazian
Week 6 - Here is New York, E.B. White &
The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces, William H. Whyte
Week 7 - City of Glass: The Graphic Novel, Paul Auster
Week 8 - Projected Cities: Cinema and Urban Space, Stephen Barber
Week 9 - The Nature of Economies, Jane Jacobs
Resource Book: The Elements of Style, William Strunk & E.B. White


Attendance and Participation: The learning community model in this program relies on full attendance by all program members, and the collegial exchange of respect and support. Committed participation allows critical dialogue, the sharing of ideas, and mutual encouragement. Group interaction is the primary method of strengthening our work together. Participation includes discussion, critique, engaging in academic inquiry by asking questions, and raising topics of interest to enrich our study.

As you progress through this program keep critically attuned to the influence of city lives on your life: notice the exhibitions, events, museums, films, stories, media, and music that generate from Olympia and other cities. These influences are relevant to our work together, reference them in discussions and let them influence your work. Think also about the spring city field work, allowing the readings and other program activities to inform your choice on what city to explore.

You will be required to sign a program covenant (a written agreement and community promise) in order to become a member of this program. Read it carefully, talk about it with program colleagues and make sure you can fulfill its promises.

Book Seminar: The Wednesday book seminar is a time for us to come together in the work of processing completed readings. Special attention has been given to a book list that includes titles that allow an interdisciplinary take on the discussion of cities. An essential intellectual activity in this program is to make connections across the readings, that is, to identify how one reading informs another and illuminates a greater understanding of the people and events that make up cities. As you read, write down the connections you are making, and other ideas and inquiry about the books; you will submit those weekly pre-seminar writings in your end of quarter program portfolio.

Book Responses: All readings require a formal response. For most readings you will write an essay and for two readings you will create an arts representation. Essays are not book reports; they are think pieces that explore the deep way that the book “turned things around in your mind.” Check what you have written in your pre-seminar writing and engage the process of reflective writing. Essays must be typed, double-spaced, 600-800 word papers (if you set your type to Times at 11points double spaced this will be roughly 2-3 pages). You will be part of a four member writing group that acts as a source of idea generation, peer review, and discussion session for The Elements of Style by William Strunk & E.B. White. Four member writing groups meet each Wednesday afternoon: two members will receive a very focused peer review of an essay draft in order to submit a final draft essay to Stephanie on the following Tuesday, while the other two members focus on the work of peer review to enhance their written essay, which will be submitted in their end of quarter portfolio. These roles are reversed the following Wednesday, and so on. Arts representation will include a collage for Dreams and Stones by Magdalena Tulli to be presented during seminar on October 10. There will be a presentation on collage construction on Tuesday, October 2. The second art representation will be for Paul Auster’s City of Glass: The Graphic Novel. For that piece, to be presented in the seminar on November 5, you may construct a piece in a self-selected art form: musical, paint, poetry, photography, video, collage, assemblage, etc. There will be a presentation on assemblage Tuesday October 30.

Movement Studio: City Life is an interdisciplinary program with aims to connect various types of academic exploration in order to achieve a broad conceptualization of life and work in cities. The movement studio facilitates this kind of conceptualization while allowing us to enrich a sense of learning community and mutual purpose.

Research Project and Presentation: The study of cities unearths broad topics and concerns that influence the way people in cities live and work. One of the aims for fall quarter is to identify those topics and concerns. Community alliances, politics, and race relations, for example, are huge considerations for cities, as are, water, urban design and architecture, pollution, documentation of city progress, art venues, industry and work opportunities, transportation, geography, public parks and green spaces, sustainability, and a host of other concerns. By week 3 each student will identify a topic of interest and give focus to that topic through additional outside research. During week 10 each student will present their research in the form of a PowerPoint presentation that includes: images, text, an Excel spreadsheet of data information, and a list of reference materials.

Program Portfolio: City Life requires a program portfolio of your work, to be reviewed by Stephanie in preparation to write quarterly “Faculty Evaluations of Student Achievement.” Refer to the handout “Portfolio Checklist” for specific portfolio content.

What happens next? In winter quarter the program turns its attention to international cities, reading for example, Kyoto: Seven Paths to The Heart of The City by Durston and Mizuno. Stephanie will keep track of topics, books, films, and activities that emerge during fall quarter in order to tailor winter program work to student interests. Student research will move from city concepts to the investigation of a particular city, in preparation for travel to that city in spring quarter.

Week 1 – September 25-27
Tuesday
10:00-12:00 Introduction to City Life
1:00-3:00 Learning in City Life
Wednesday
10:00-12:00 Seminar: Articles from The City Reader
1:00-3:00 Meeting Your Writing Group
Thursday
10:00-11:30 Movement Studio:
12:30-3:30 Film: Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (1927)
3:30-4:30 Film Seminar

Week 2 – October 2-4
Tuesday
10:00-12:00 Workshop: Collage Construction and City Art
1:00-3:00 A Walk in the City of Olympia: guest guide Helena Meyer-Knapp. Meet at 1:00 sharp in front of the Bayview Thriftway Market 516 W. 4th just over the 4th Street Bridge.
Wednesday
10:00-12:00 Book Seminar: - City Life. Witold Rybczynski
1:00-3:00 Writing Groups Meet
Thursday
10:00-11:30 Movement Studio
12:30-3:30 Film: Downtowners & Holding Ground: the Rebirth of Dudley Street & The Stork
3:30-4:30 Film Seminar

Week 3 – October 9-11
Tuesday
10:00-12:00 Workshop: Introduction to Excel (Computer Center)
1:00-3:00 City Stories: Guest - Sandra Yannone
Wednesday
10:00-12:00 Book Seminar: - Dreams and Stones, Magdalena Tulli.
1:00-3:00 Writing Groups Meet
Thursday (Submit individual research topic paper)
10:00-11:30 Movement Studio
12:30-3:30 Film: Man of Marble (Wajda)
3:30-4:30 Film Seminar

Week 4 – October 16-18
Tuesday
10:00-12:00 Workshop: Using Excel for City Research (Computer Center)
1:00-3:00 City Stories: Cities of Brazil: History and Percussion–Caxambu
Wednesday
10:00-12:00 Book Seminar: Dance in the City Helen Thomas
1:00-3:00 Writing Groups Meet
Thursday
10:00-11:30 Movement Studio: Samba-Janelle Campoverde
12:30-3:30 Film: Contrecoup & Black Orpheus (1958)
3:30-4:30 Film Seminar

Week 5 – October 23-25
Tuesday
10:00-12:00 Film: Goin To Chicago & Chicago: City of Big Shoulders
1:00-3:00 City Stories: The Work of the Blues: Jimee Lowe
Wednesday
10:00-12:00 Book Seminar: Blue Chicago: The Search for Authenticity in Urban Blues Clubs, David Grazian
1:00-3:00 Writing Groups Meet
Thursday Field trip to the Tacoma: Art and History in a City

Week 6 – October 30 - November 1
Tuesday
10:00-12:00 Assemblage & Jacob Lawrence: Migration & Portfolio Review
1:00-3:00 City Stories: Guest Andrew Buchman on New York City life
Wednesday
10:00-10:45 Book Seminar: Here is New York, E.B. White
10:45 – Lecture Hall 1 – Guest Speaker Suheir Hammad
1:00-3:00 Writing Groups Meet
Thursday
10:00-11:30 Movement Studio
12:30-1:30 Q&A Suheir Hammad on city life
1:45 Film: Steve Reich: City Life & The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces

3:45-4:30 Film Seminar

Week 7 – November 6-8
Tuesday
10:00-12:00 Workshop: Finding Out About Cities: Sarah Pederson
1:00-3:00 City Stories: Pete Bohmer: Race and class in the cities
Wednesday
10:00 – 12:00 Book Seminar: City of Glass: The Graphic Novel, Paul Auster & The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces, William H. Whyte (Handout)
1:00-3:00 Writing Groups Meet
Thursday
10:00-11:30 Movement Studio
12:30-3:30 Film: Paul Auster: New York Voices & The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces
3:30-4:30 Film Seminar

Week 8– November 13-15
Tuesday
10:00-12:00 Workshop: PowerPoint workshop Computer Center GC2
1:00-3:00 City Stories: Chris Ciancetta: Travel to Cities
Wednesday
10:00-12:00 Book Seminar: Projected Cities: Cinema and Urban Space, Stephen Barber
1:00-3:00 Writing Groups Meet
Thursday
10:00-11:30 Movement Studio
12:30-3:30 Film: Maquilapolis (City of Factories)
3:30-4:30 Film Seminar

Fall Break Week November 19-23


Week 9 – November 27-29
Tuesday
10:00-12:00 Workshop: City Mapping- Carlos Diaz
1:00-3:00 City Stories: Sarah Ryan: The Growth Management Game

Wednesday
10:00-12:00 Book Seminar: The Nature of Economies, Jane Jacobs
1:00-3:00 Writing Groups Meet
Thursday
10:00-11:30 Movement Studio
12:30-3:30 Film: Bookwars

3:30-4:30 Film Seminar

Week 10 – December 4 – 6

STUDENT PRESENTATIONS

Evaluation Week December 10-14
Prepare for your evaluation conference by writing a self-evaluation and a faculty evaluation. In this program self-evaluations will become part of your transcript.
Winter Break December 17, 2007 - January 6, 2008