Vassar Moodle

Prof Martha Kaplan
Course meets Thursdays 6:30-9:30pm Blodgett 105

Federal and state programs have transformed American cities over the past century. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC) “redlined” entire neighborhoods as “hazardous” for investment. After World War II, federal funding for “urban renewal” transformed U.S. cities from 1949 to 1974, involving “slum clearance” of neighborhoods considered blighted by authorities, even if many were vibrant communities. Urban renewal aimed to create modern public housing, freeways, expressways, cultural centers, recreational and educational facilities, office complexes, and more. Those displaced by eviction numbered in the millions, mainly affecting the working class, people of color, and immigrants. In many cities, urban revitalization and gentrification now lead to public-private forms of social displacement. After examining the complex links between these historical and current processes, students use urban theory to explain and analyze cities of their choice.