Representing the Urban Landscape
   

Weekly Schedule of Readings, Activities, and Assignments
CW = City Wilds anthology selections
Writing assignments are highlighted in yellow
Revision due dates are noted in red
Field trips are highlighted in green 

• Introduction to course theme, goals and online format
  • Review syllabus and all course requirements
  • Create a personal homepage and introduce yourself to your classmates 
• Items for discussion: 
  • Carl Sandberg's "Chicago"
  • Peter Friederici, "Where the Wild Ones Are" (Chicago Wilderness Winter 2008)
  • Sally Kitt Chappell, Chicago's Urban Nature (watch the Quicktime video)

• Readings for discussion: 
  • William Cronon, "The Trouble with Wilderness" (from Uncommon Ground:  Rethinking the Human Place in Nature, 1995)
  • Andrew Light, "Elegy for a Garden" (Terrain.org Fall/Winter 2004)
  • Eula Biss, "No-Man's-Land:  Fear, Racism, and the Historically Troubling Attitude of American Pioneers" (The Believer Feb. 2008)
• Verify that you can read comments and highlighting features in Mike's test document -- [Course Documents]

Week Three (9/29):  Thinking (and Writing) about Urban Nature

• Readings for discussion:  
  • Jenny Price, "Thirteen Ways of Seeing Nature in L.A.," parts 1 and 2 (The Believer April 2006)
  • Terrell Dixon, "Introduction" (CW)
  • Leslie Dick, "Nature Near" (CW 31)
• Start Reading Reaction postings to the Discussion Board (click here for schedule)
• Deadline for submitting your grade option preference (send an email to Mike)

• Readings for discussion: 
  • William Cronon, Prologue (from Nature's Metropolis, 1991) -- [Course Documents]
  • Chicago stories -- Sandra Cisneros, "The Monkey Garden" (CW 18); Susan Power, "Chicago Waters" (CW 19); Ronald Fair, "Thank God It Snowed" (CW 21)
• Essay 1 due on Saturday 10/11, 11pm in the Digital Dropbox

• Readings for discussion:
  • Lois Wille, Forever Open, Clear, and Free (Prologue thru ch. 8)

• Readings for discussion:
  • Lois Wille, Forever Open, Clear, and Free (ch.  9-11)
  • Blair Kamin, "Reinventing the Lakefront" (from Why Architecture Matters, 2001) -- [Bb, Course Documents]
  • "City Council Approves Children's Museum in Grant Park" (Chicago Tribune 11 June 2008)

• Readings for discussion:
  • Carl Smith, "The Plan of Chicago" (Digital Interpretative Essay in the Encyclopedia of Chicago); focus on the following sections:
    • The City the Planners Saw
    • Reading the Plan
    • Implementation
    • Heritage
  • Jill Riddell, "Post-Industrial Wildlands" (Chicago Wilderness Fall 2001)
  • City of Chicago, "Calumet Area Land Use Plan" (2002) -- [Course Documents]
• Research Proposal due Sunday 11/2, 11pm in the Digital Dropbox
• Field Trip -- Chicago Humanities Festival, Harris Theater, Sunday 11/2 ("The Plan of Chicago," 12-1:30pm; "Global City of the Future," 2:30-4pm).  See this page for 392 Field Trip Information.

Week Eight (11/3):  The Suburban Landscape

• Readings for discussion: 
  • Bob Thall, "Introduction:  My Place, Your Place" (from The New American Village, 1999) -- [Course Documents]
  • Debra Shore, "The Greening of Sarah's Grove" (Chicago Wilderness Fall 2004)
  • Kris Price, "Skeletons in the Closet of the Suburban Frontier" (Terrain.org Summer 1999)

• Readings for discussion:  

  • Rivers -- Lisa Couturier, "Reversing the Tides" (CW 1); Bob Marshall, "Paddling off the Edge of the Big Easy" (CW 14); Jan Zita Grover, "Minnehaha Creek" (CW 22)

  • Gardens -- bell hooks, "Touching the Earth" (CW 4); Rebecca Johnson, "New Moon over Roxbury:  Reflections on Urban Life and the Land" (CW 7); John Hanson Mitchell, "A Paradise of Frogs" (CW 10); Trish Maharam, "Plantswoman" (CW 35)

• Optional revision of Essay 1 due Saturday 11/15, 11pm in the Digital Dropbox

Week Ten (11/17):  Urban Nature Writing II

• Readings for discussion:
  •   Rooftops and Swamps -- Edward P. Jones, "The Girl Who Raised Pigeons" (CW 11); Rick Bass, "Swamp Boy" (CW 15)
  • Contact and Commodification -- Charles Siebert, "Where Have All the Animals Gone?" (CW 3); Robert Michael Pyle, "The Extinction of Experience" (CW 29); Richard Brautigan, "The Cleveland Wrecking Yard" (299)
• Essay 2 due Saturday 11/22 Tuesday 11/25, 11pm in the Digital Dropbox

Week Eleven (11/24):  Thanksgiving Break

• Read ahead for next week
• Review guidelines for the Research Presentation 

Week Twelve (12/1):  Chicago Naturalists -- Landscape Architecture, Natural History, Ecology

• Readings for discussion: 
  • Jens Jensen, selections from Siftings (1939) -- [Course Documents]
  • Julia Bachrach, "Jens Jensen:  Friend of the Native Landscape" (Chicago Wilderness Spring 2001)
  • Leonard Dubkin, "Some Experiences with Insects" (CW 20) and "Part Five" from Wolf Point: An Adventure in History (1953) -- [Course Documents]
  • May Watts, "Looking Down on Improved Property" and "Botanizing from a Lower Berth" (from Reading the Landscape of America, 1975) -- [Course Documents]
• Recommended:  Post a rough draft of your Research Presentation to the Discussion Board during weeks 12-13 for peer review

Week Thirteen (12/8):  Photography, Nature, and the City

• Readings for Discussion:
  • Graham Clarke, "How Do We Read a Photograph?" (from The Photograph, 1997); Basic Strategies in Reading Photographs
  • Terry Evans, Revealing Chicago:  An Aerial Portrait (2004)

Week Fourteen (12/15):  Online Humanities Conference  

• Research Presentations due Monday 12/15, 5pm on the Discussion Board
• Optional revisions of Essay 2 due Friday 12/12 Tuesday 12/16, 11pm in the Digital Dropbox (no grace period)
• Course evaluations (see Announcements for details)
  • Key semester dates:  commencement, Friday 12/19; profs' grades due Tuesday 12/23

-- I reserve the right to revise this schedule as needed --

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M. Bryson's Faculty Home Page
Last Updated:  06 January 2009