Syllabus
JTM 505:
The City in Modern Central Europe
Zora Piskačová, M.A.
E-mail: zora.piskacova@unc.edu
Office Hours: By appointment
Course Description: The second half of the 19th century witnessed the rise of a new form of urban settlement in Europe and across the globe—the metropolis. Product of industrial capitalism and the quickly accelerating rate of urbanization, this new form of urbanity—with its straight boulevards, increasingly lit streets, and quick pace of life—is typically portrayed as an epitome of modernity. Yet, unlike London, Paris or New York, Central and East European cities are only rarely portrayed as sites, let alone as producers of the modern. Archetypally labeled by existing literature as relative latecomers to the modernization process, their transformation into modern urban settlements and their place within the larger story of modern life in Central Europe is often glossed over. Drawing on recent research in urban studies, this course seeks to problematize the notion of ‘urban backwardness’ and firmly position the Central European city as an important site of the modern experience, without disregarding its peculiarities. How did urban dwellers in Central Europe experience big city life? Were they as delighted about electric lightning, public transportation, and growing consumerism as their fellow urbanites in London or Paris? Did they also struggle with uprootedness? Did they devour scandalous news of the gutter press and feared for their lives due to heightened crime and filth? Did they experience moral panics? How did they understand themselves in relations to their urban home and what role did the sweeping emergence of national sentiment play in it? Finally, how did their lives and urban surroundings change during the two world wars and does this experience make the Central European city unique?
This seminar aims to introduce students to current topics as well as methodologies in modern urban history through the lens of the Central European city. While the course readings are primarily rooted in secondary literature, the seminar will feature in-class analysis of primary sources. The focus is placed on Berlin, Vienna, Prague, Warsaw, Cracow, and Budapest in the second half of the 19th and first half of the 20th century.
Course Requirements:
Active Class Participation 20%
Presentation 20%
Final Paper (approx. 3000 words) 60%
Participation
Presentation
Final Paper Proposal
Final
Paper
When?
Every week
N/A 02. 12. 2021 23. 01. 2022
How much? 20% 20% 10% 50%
Assignments:
Weekly Participation: This course hinges on discussion. Coming to class is good, but insufficient. To receive a solid grade (C) and above, you must show me you are present mentally as well as physically. This will require you to read the assigned reading before class and think about them! Please make sure to bring your readings to class—either in printed, or in their electronic form. All readings can be found on our Moodle site.
Presentation: Each student will prepare one, 15–20-minute presentation on a previously agreed topic. While the themes are set, each of you will have a large wiggle room to transform it into something you are interested in. You will be asked to provide a one-page hand-out plus bibliography of at least five sources for each student in the class. One week before the due date, I ask you to set up a meeting with me to discuss your outline. This is a necessary part of holding a presentation. If I don’t see your handout before, I will not let you present. Please submit your final hand out to me at least 12 hours before your presentation – I will post it on Moodle so that others can refer to it. Your presentation may, but does not have to, serve as a basis for your end of the term paper.
Research Paper: Your final research paper should have a clearly stated research question and a thesis. It should feature a literature review (academic sources) and be rooted in an in-depth analysis of primary sources. It must adhere to proper academic ethics; cite each used source and feature a bibliography. Your final paper may address any topic of your choosing as long as it stays related to our course—in other words, it must tackle the city in modern Central Europe. The point of this paper is not to determine the cosmological meaning of the universe or figure out the true nature of the human soul, keep your question small and manageable! Still, to avoid unpleasant surprises, I ask you to submit a proposal of no more than 400 words to be by 2 December 2021 via Moodle. Please provide me with your topic, your hypothesis, and a short list of your primary and secondary sources. This will allow me to provide you with detailed feedback!
Chicago Citation Style:
I expect you to cite your sources in the Chicago Style using footnotes. Please refer to the quick guide posted on Moodle for details or come and see me.
Grading Policy:
A
B
C
D
E
F 100-91 90-81 80-71 70-61 60-51
· Late work will incur a penalty of 5% if submitted within three days, 10% within a week
· Work that is more than one week late will not be accepted unless otherwise agreed or unless a student can provide a reasonable justification (e.g. medical emergency).
· Plagiarism will not be tolerated! If you have questions on what plagiarism is and how to avoid it, please come and see me.
Attendance Policy:
Students can miss one class - no questions asked. Any other missed classes must be ‘excused’ through relevant justification (e.g. illness, serious personal reasons, attendance of extraordinary event related to the study program). As per institute directive, if the number of absences exceeds two, the student will be required to complete a separate written assignment for each additional absence, in consultation with the instructor. A high number of missed classes may result for lower grade or failing the course.
Office Hours:
I will be holding office hours only by appointment: zora.piskacova@unc.edu.
I am here to help, not to make your life difficult. Moreover, I believe that communication is key as I cannot help you if I don’t know what is going on! If you show up and talk to me, I am relatively lenient, but if you can’t submit something on time or you really don’t know where to start with your paper, you need to tell me! Hence if anything comes up, shoot me an email, set up a meeting and we’ll figure it out!
Course Schedule:[1]
Week 1:
Sept. 30 Introduction(s)
Week 2:
Oct. 7 What is a City?
· L
Annotation
The second half of the 19th century witnessed the rise of a new form of urban settlement in Europe and across the globe—the metropolis. Product of industrial capitalism and the quickly accelerating rate of urbanization, this new form of urbanity—with its straight boulevards, increasingly lit streets, and quick pace of life—is typically portrayed as an epitome of modernity. Yet, unlike London, Paris or New York, Central and East European cities are only rarely portrayed as sites, let alone as producers of the modern. Archetypally labeled by existing literature as relative latecomers to the modernization process, their transformation into modern urban settlements and their place within the larger story of modern life in Central Europe is often glossed over. Drawing on recent research in urban studies, this course seeks to problematize the notion of ‘urban backwardness’ and firmly position the Central European city as an important site of the modern experience, without disregarding its peculiarities. How did urban dwellers in Central Europe experience big city life? Were they as delighted about electric lightning, public transportation, and growing consumerism as their fellow urbanites in London or Paris? Did they also struggle with uprootedness? Did they devour scandalous news of the gutter press and feared for their lives due to heightened crime and filth? Did they experience moral panics? How did they understand themselves in relations to their urban home and what role did the sweeping emergence of national sentiment play in it? Finally, how did their lives and urban surroundings change during the two world wars and does this experience make the Central European city unique?
This seminar aims to introduce students to current topics as well as methodologies in modern urban history through the lens of the Central European city. While the course readings are primarily rooted in secondary literature, the seminar will feature in-class analysis of primary sources. The focus is placed on Berlin, Vienna, Prague, Warsaw, Cracow, and Budapest in the second half of the 19th and first half of the 20th century.