Making the Metropolis
I chose to take this Honors Seminar specifically because of the professor teaching the class. I had greatly enjoyed the two courses I had previously taken with Professor Stradling and assumed this class would be taught equally well. I quickly found that the subject matter of the course interested me as well. The course focused on a history of American cities, identifying underlying causes for the changes they have undergone and how they have reached their modern form. The subject matter was presented in a unique way as we alternated completing readings about different cities with taking field trips to different areas of Cincinnati. In this way, we were able to experience in a hands-on way the concepts that these books were illustrating. We visited many different types of areas in the city including planned suburbs, industrial areas, lower income neighborhoods, and various parks. Although I was born and raised in Cincinnati and have lived here most of my life, there were many places we visited that I had not yet been, or at least not stopped to consider them in the way we were on these field trips. We also explored the University of Cincinnati campus and were asked to consider how the placement and design of the school shapes its interaction with the city and reflects how attitudes toward the city have changed over the years. It was very interesting to learn more about the city and school I have spent so much time at but never stopped to consider in this way.
Mt. Storm Park: For our final project we were asked to choose a place in Cincinnati and spend time there making observations about how it is integrated into the city. I wrote about Mt. Storm park in Clifton and found how its history and unique location have influenced the way in which it is used and who frequents the park. I have attached here my final paper and presentation.
University of Cincinnati: For class we were required to write biweekly journal entries about the field trips we went on as a class, while incorporating concepts from our readings. I have attached my journal entry after our tour of the UC campus and our discussion of changes of the relationship between the city and the school.