The program jump-starts with some summer reading. This year, for the first time, faculty were given a list of four books from which to choose; I chose Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehesi Coates as the most relevant to the topic of urbanism. Little did I know how timely it would prove to be.
Last week we faculty got our provisional class rosters. I have 14 students so far, with one or two last-minute types expected later. Now I know their names and home states (6 IA-2 IL-AZ-CA-FL-MO-TX-WI), but not much else. We were asked to write a letter to the class. Given last week's tragedies, my letter was less chatty than usual. This is what I wrote:
July 11, 2016
Welcome to Coe! And welcome
to the first-year seminar class, The Future of the City. Thank you for making
it one of your top four choices. I came to the study of cities out of my study
of American politics, as well as an interest in places, which was the subject
of my previous FYS. Cities of all sizes are some of the most interesting and
challenging places on Earth!
This week we’ve seen one
version of the future of the city: police shootings on back-to-back days in
Baton Rouge and suburban St. Paul, followed by a sniper attack on police in
Dallas that left five dead and seven injured. That version sees each of us in
more-or-less constant battle threatened by whoever we encounter particularly if
they seem dangerously different. This version features a lot of conflict,
leading inevitably to violence. People protect themselves as well as they can,
and hope for the best.
There’s also been another
version of the future of the city on display, albeit hasn’t gotten as much
attention. This one also features a lot of conflict, but it’s conflict tempered
by recognition of each other’s common humanity. That enables a conversation
about seeking solutions, working towards common goals like peace and
prosperity, and how we’re going to live together in the space we share. That too
was on display in Dallas, at the protest rally that the sniper attacked, where
blacks and whites, civilians and police talked across their differences and
helped each other to safety.
I bring to the study of
cities a few assumptions, all of which I freely admit are arguable: the nature
of the global economy makes individual economic opportunity more challenging
even as we need it to sustain our communities; environmental realities
increasingly limit our ability to access and use resources (like any source of
energy); government finances at all levels are so constrained that suburban
development can’t continue to be built and maintained on the scale of the last
two generations; but diversity in its many dimensions can be a source of
strength if we as a species can learn to embrace it. The bottom line assumption
is that Americans are probably going to live more compactly in the next 75
years than they have in the last 75, partly out of choice, but partly out of
necessity.
So what do we do? I don’t
have all the answers, or even very many of them, but am fascinated and
perplexed by the questions, and I hope that they will intrigue you as well.
I’ve chosen a couple of texts that cover a lot of the basic issues, and which
should get some good conversations started, not to mention inspire your own
explorations through paper-writing and giving presentations. [I don’t know what
your high school experiences have been, but college in general relies more
heavily on reading and discussion of text than on memorizing the truth. Back in
the day I was very good at memorizing the truth, so I had some adjustments to
make when I got to college… maybe you will, too. Anyway don’t expect me to do
all the talking.]
Which leads me to the summer
reading: Between the World and Me by
Ta-Nehesi Coates (Speigel & Grau, 2015). You should buy the book, or borrow
it from your local public library, and read it before you get to campus. It’s short
but tough and timely, an unflinching look at contemporary America written by a
black father of a teenage son (who also happens to be a columnist for The Atlantic Monthly). For some of us,
Coates’s arguments will be alien; for others they might be screamingly obvious.
Read it—but don’t, in spite of its brevity, try to read it in one or two
sittings--and see what you think. We’ll spend the first couple class sessions
talking about some of the themes he raises. He doesn’t bear as directly on
cities as what we’ll read later, but he raises some important issues. You don’t
have to agree with everything he says, but it’s important to listen (visually?)
and respond.
Another short-but-powerful
book I read this summer is Tribe by
Sebastian Junger (Twelve, 2016). Junger looks at the way we design, build and
live in our places from the perspective of troops returning from a war zone. He
notes that American veterans are diagnosed with PTSD at far higher rates than
our allies, and wonders if our historic emphasis on individualism affects the
design of our places such that it leads naturally to isolation rather than the
close connection we might experience in a military unit in danger.
I’ve read other books, too… But
you want to know about college!! So here’s some college stuff, starting with
your other courses. We will choose those once you’re on campus, and by “we” I
mean mostly you with some help from me. In addition to being the instructor for
your FYS, I will also serve as your academic advisor during your first year at
Coe. We will meet individually during orientation to make out a schedule for
your other courses for the Fall term. The choices will be yours, but I will
make sure that we put together a solid program for your first semester.
We’re going to be spending a
lot of time together this fall. In addition to having seminar four times a
week, our class will participate in cultural activities throughout the
semester, starting during orientation. To help first years acclimate to their
college experience, every FYS is assigned a College Adjustment Peer (CAP) who
will assist you as you make your way through the labyrinth of college life. Our
CAP is Hanna Koster, a junior Physics major. She was a CAP leader for a
different class last fall and is looking forward to meeting all of us. We also
have the services of two consultants from the Coe Writing Center, Marissa
Bouska and Allison Bryan.
Speaking of writing, you
should have received a link to a questionnaire from the Writing Across the Curriculum
program about your experience as a writer. Please respond! It will help them
shape their programming for the coming year.
So, again, welcome to Coe and
to the class on The Future of the City! Enjoy the rest of your summer, and I’ll
see you in six short weeks. In the meantime, if you have any questions, I’ll be
here all summer so send them my way!
Bruce F. Nesmith
Joan and Abbot Lipsky
Professor of Political Science |
| New York City, 1979 (Source: Flicker. Used without permission.) |
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