Shaping the Future of NYC-2012

class, i can make time for you to work on your projects tomorrow in anticipation of the friday deadline, so you should bring whatever materials you may need to make it productive.  it would be useful to read and comment on each other’s material, write/polish intro’s and conclusions, compile bibliographies, etc.

http://macaulay.cuny.edu/community/now/2012/03/seminar-4-conference-may-6-register-today/

We’re very excited to announce the second annual Macaulay Eportfolio Expo! This year’s expo will take place on Wednesday, May 2, 2012 from 6-8 p.m. at the Macaulay Building. Last year’s event was a great opportunity for students to show work that they are passionate about, and to learn from each other. This year’s promises to be even better. We invite all MHC students and organizations to submit their sites. Enter here (entries are due by April 23) and check out our current entries here.

Even if you entered last year, you are welcome to come back and show us your progress.

class,

just to reiterate my comments from class, here are some general things to keep in mind as you prepare for the exam:

the three big topics from the syllabus are participants/processes, political economy, and mayors/money.  some basic things to think about for each are:
participants/processes: this involves Moses issues.  what are the advantages and disadvantages of having power concentrated in a figure like Moses?  how has power/politics changed since then?  is it accurate to see RM in terms of a ‘great man theory’ of history?
political economy:  what does it mean for NYC (and New Yorkers) to be a global city?  how have NYC mayors helped bring about the transition to a global city?  what is neoliberalism and why/how has it dominated NYC politics?
mayors/money: who becomes mayor of NYC and why?  what role does race play in NYC politics?  how have NYC mayors shaped policies and spending?  (neoliberalism again)
note that there is a certain amount of overlap among these topics (e.g., who has power and how is it used, etc)
on the exam there will be three essay topics to choose from and you will be required to write two essays.  you will have 75 minutes for the exam.  i will be looking to see how well you can engage these issues and discuss them intelligently and thoughtfully (along the lines of what we do in class).  i will also try to get you to think about how your knowledge might apply to some current issues in NYC.

please be prompt so we can begin the exam at (or close to) 9:15.

good luck with your prep and let me know if you have any questions (email or office hours tuesday).

ar

thanks Tsai-Shiou for the quick action to get the readings up on e-portfolio!  (the Mollenkopf article is uploaded now! remains to be posted, and i’m still working on that…)

class, since i still have not heard from everyone about preferences i am not able to produce a definitive list of group assignments.  below, however, are three assigned groups and the most likely possibilities for two additional groups.  if your name does not appear among the three groups listed please send me asap a ranking of your preferences among the other three possibilities (even if you already emailed me ).  thanks.

landmarks/preservation: Alyssa, Ilana, Dalya

street regulations: Elizabeth, Vanessa, Silky, Aurona

homelessness: Shirley, Olivia, Susan, Corina, Clarissa

additional group topics (rank in order): crime, education, and possibly another group on homelessness.

if you haven’t already done so, please let me know what topics you are interested in for your group projects.  i can’t complete the group assignments until i have heard from you.  if you prefer you could also propose topics as a group (as some people have done already).  some good ideas that have been proposed, which the undecided might consider, are: crime/policing, education, homeless/housing, transportation, public art, and post-9/11. thanks. ar