Spring 2016: The Peopling of New York City A Macaulay Honors Seminar taught by Prof. Karen Williams at Brooklyn College

Spring 2016: The Peopling of New York City
A Mix of High with Line

As I walked up the steep, concrete steps with Professor Williams, I felt like I was climbing Mount Everest. It required a constant effort since there were so many steps and I would be doomed if I didn’t reach the top before I became exhausted. It was very busy near 16 on 10th, or High […]

The high line
The high line

As I walked up the High line the icy cold wind passed through my body piercing every inch of my insides. Despite the fact that it was 2:13 pm near the Hudson river it was relatively gray because the sky had hints of clouds. The High line is located in an area of the city […]

Field Notes: A Little Walk to/on/from the High Line
Field Notes: A Little Walk to/on/from the High Line

Right off the bat, I have already lied to you. The title of this post says that I took “a little walk” to the High Line. And right off the bat, I have failed in properly being an ethnographer due to this lack of retelling with accuracy. The truth is that it was not a […]

High Line Field Notes

As I stand on the High Line, I look around. Wind blows throughout the area, the cold breeze like a knife scraping across the unprotected parts of my skin, namely my hands and face, since I don’t own a ski mask and I neglected to wear gloves. On my right side, I see a rather […]

Highline Field Notes
Highline Field Notes

It is February 10, 2016 at 2pm. I set off toward the Highline with Melissa, Jannat, and Batsheva, bracing myself against the bitter wind blowing through four layers of clothing. I wonder how long it will be before I can no longer manipulate my numb fingers to form letters on the page. We walk through […]

Sample Post and Instructions for Posting Your Field Notes
Sample Post and Instructions for Posting Your Field Notes

No field notes here, sorry, but here are the instructions for adding your field notes to the site. The process for adding your field notes to the eportfolio site is very similar to the process for posting your discussion posts. Log in to the course site > Dashboard > Posts > Add New Write your field notes […]

Sample Discussion Post + Instructions for posting to the discussion blog category
Sample Discussion Post + Instructions for posting to the discussion blog category

This post is a sample post and also contains instructions for posting to the course Discussion Blog. Log in to the eportfolio site and create a new post: Dashboard > Posts > Add New Write your post. Tag your post with “Week ____.” For example, this post is tagged “week 2.” Categorize as “Discussion Blog” by clicking the box […]

Class Tomorrow: Wed. February 17th

Please bring in your field notes from the High Line trip. I will ask 5-7 people to volunteer to present their field notes. Each person will have 7-10 minutes to report back. You do not have to create a formal presentation but you can share a short video from your phone or pictures/ drawings/ paintings […]

Field Trip Reminder

We will meet at the Chelsea Market at 1:40 pm.  You can take the “ACE” to 14th Street/ 8th Ave. or the “123” to 14th Street/ 7th Ave.  We will walk as a group to the High Line. Please remember to bring a copy of your observation sheets.

Are we what we carry in our daily bags?

On the first day of class, students surveyed the contents of each other’s bag and then wrote profiles based on what they found, so I thought Lifehacker’s “Featured Bag” series might be interesting to some of you. This series features reader-submitted photos of their bags and the stuff inside their bags. The title of each post is explanatory, […]