Each week, two students will be responsible for making an in-class presentation and for leading class discussion. The assignment is as follows: Pick a New York City neighborhood. (We will divide these up as a class so as to avoid repetition.) Give as full a description as you can of the life of its inhabitants in the year, 1912. Then explain the changes the neighborhood has undergone between 1912 and 2012. Do so in terms of the effects of technology, economics, politics, culture and personality on the neighborhood and show us how these forces have shaped the lives of the inhabitants. Make sure you do so in no more than twenty minutes and be prepared for your fellow students’ questions and to lead a discussion (with the professor’s help) thereafter.

Two key points regarding the presentation:

• a) be sure to compare and contrast your neighborhood with a previous neighborhood presentation (excluding, of course, the first one).
• b) It is strongly suggested (but not required that you contact the class ITF, Jenny Kijowski, for ideas about how to make your presentation more interesting using A/V equipment, etc. She can be reached at profkijowski@gmail.com.

Groups:

• Midwood
• Park Slope: Ronny Antony, Steven Burekhovich, and Fady Ghattas
• Flatbush: Emily Miller and Joy Evans
• LES: Kirstin, Rachel, and Kisa
• Greenwich Village: Aditya Nihalani, Malka Mermelstein and Maggie Wrobleski
• Chinatown: Ashley Dominic, Samson Zachariah, and Sherilyne Co
• Sunset Park: Jairam
• Williamsburg?: Adrienne, Priscilla, Artur