ES200

Humanities (HU), Domestic Pluralism (DP)

(Chicago Parks and the Politics of Landscape).This course examines Chicago's cultural heritage, race relations, class politics, and landscaped environments through the lens of its city parks from the nineteenth century to the present day. Students explore the ways Chicagoans and visitors experienced, constructed, thought about, discussed, fought over, and valued these public spaces in order to understand broader cultural and historical trends. Students employ interdisciplinary methodologies drawn from anthropology, sociology, history, politics, literary studies, and environmental studies to examine a wide range of source material including artifacts, photographs, maps, surveys, oral histories, fiction, poetry, and more. Special emphasis on and field studies to Chicago's South Side parks that hosted two World's Fairs. No prerequisites.