In this seminar, we will investigate the political, economic, cultural, psychological and sociological life of “the greatest city in the world.” Our focus will be on the factors that have driven and drawn people to New York since the 17th century; the different ways that various combinations of the pursuit of wealth, fame and power when combined with race, gender, work, and ethnicity have shaped the life of the city and the formation of its social order. We will also look at factors that have driven and drawn people to New York in successive waves of immigration and the ways that being in the city has shaped their behavior thereafter. And we will also examine the roles of the people who have run things and determined the contours of those working their way (or losing their way) up and through the system. We will pay particular attention to social and economic avenues of success and to the various means through which individual and group ambition has manifested itself whether in success or failure. We will do so from a variety of perspectives, including walking tours and (possibly) class trips to key places, but the readings will be drawn exclusively from history and literature. The reasons for the history choices are (largely) self-explanatory. The novels are here because I think there are many kinds of truths—often deeper kinds—that are available to us only through literature. We will also see a few movies. Movies are not as deep as literature, but again, they sometimes teach us lessons available nowhere else. You will all be responsible for finding scholarly sources on the history of Broadway in preparation for our guest lecturer. You will also be responsible for finding your own walking tour of the city to go on (with the professor’s suggestions) and both of these will be included on the final.