Ryan Purcell

The ideas of John Locke were deeply influential to the development of American government and society. But while Locke may have helped popularize the concept of representative democracy, serving as a North Star for the framers of the US Constitution, he also authored white-supremacist texts that reaffirmed a body of knowledge known today as “race science,” as well as a series of colonial laws that solidified African American slavery in the New World. Such “slave laws” retained their power well after the American Revolution. This lecture traces key currents of race ideology and the belief in white superiority and Black inferiority within the bedrock of the American political landscape. Through a study of primary source documents, guided by an interdisciplinary array of scholarly readings, students will be exposed to the ways in which white-supremacist thought has provided an intellectual foundation supporting a system of white wealth, power, and privilege. Students will explore how racist ideas have shaped crucial concepts related to American democracy.

“New York is the greatest city in the world—and everything is wrong with it.” This headline, which ran in January 1965 in the New York Herald Tribune, speaks to the duality that many people felt regarding New York City during the mid-20th century—a sentiment that continues today: The City can be a lovely place to experience, but it is not without its problems. And by the end of the 1960s, New York was plagued with problems. Population flight to the suburbs and deindustrialization eviscerated tax revenues. Municipal austerity and privatization policies undercut the public programs. A city that had built a reputation on urban liberalism was now at a crossroads at the dawn of the ’70s. Perhaps most consequential, within this nexus of urban crises, was the City’s image reflected in popular culture that informed opinions of New York and exacerbated the perception of the City’s decline. This seminar explores the politics and culture of New York City during the 1970s. What do representations in popular culture, from cinema to comic books, say about the state of the City in that decade? Did those images match the reality of urban experiences at the time? What political ends did those images serve, and what consequences did they have for the future? Students will learn to outline the resonance of municipal policies, from urban renewal to the militarization of police, as they are reflected in popular culture. Historians will help guide our analysis of politics and culture—but, ultimately, students will interpret primary sources for themselves, developing a deeper understanding of this pivotal decade and how it shaped the future of New York City. In addition to in-class discussions, students will meet weekly with the instructor for individual conferences.

Close your eyes and listen. The human experience is highly sonic. Along with touch, hearing is among the most personal of our bodily senses. Now, you may hear the sound of passing cars, a lawnmower outside, or the murmur of voices from the hallway. But does race have a sound? What does Jim Crow sound like? Are there sonic dimensions to Black Power? Can popular music propel social movements, or can we hear social change? This lecture guides students through a survey of color and sound. We will explore historical case studies where concepts of race and recorded music collide. Through a careful analysis of a variety of cultural texts—including memoirs from specific artists and critical reviews of albums—and a consideration of contextual historical events and phenomena, students will consider how popular culture and music have shaped concepts of race and ethnicity over the 20th century.

“The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge,” according to F. Scott Fitzgerald, “is always the city seen for the first time, in its first promise of all the mystery and the beauty of the world.” While poetic, this romantic rendering, however, eludes the social struggle that pervades New York City’s history. Conversely, the City seen on the silver screen can bring its contradictions into sharp focus. From this perspective, New York City appears as a complicated metropolis, replete with power dynamics along lines of race, gender, and sexuality. In this lecture, students will explore ways in which cinematic representations of New York City map onto distinct permutations and arcs in the City’s history. Each week, we will locate a specific film within a web of historical meaning. This is not a film-studies class, per se; rather, using cinema as a point of departure, we will explore the rich cultural history surrounding specific films. We will think about the connections between films and public policy, poetry, journalism, fine art, popular music, and more. Students will learn to derive historical insights through the analysis of film. Movies like Dog Day Afternoon (1975), for example, signal the rise of mass incarceration and the militarization of NYPD units; but the film also gives expression to the emerging LGBTQ movement and transgender subjectivity. Similarly, lesser-known gems, such as Baby Face (1933), can help illustrate the complex social and cultural terrain through which some women achieved power and independence in Depression-era New York.

“New York is the greatest city in the world—and everything is wrong with it.” This headline, which ran in January 1965 in the New York Herald Tribune, speaks to the duality that many people felt regarding New York City during the mid-20th century—a sentiment that continues today: the City can be a lovely place to experience, but it is not without its problems. And by the end of the 1960s, New York was plagued with problems. Population flight to the suburbs, and deindustrialization eviscerated tax revenues. Municipal austerity and privatization policies undercut the public programs. A city that had built a reputation on urban liberalism was now at a crossroads at the dawn of the ’70s. Perhaps most consequential, within this nexus of urban crises, was the City’s image reflected in popular culture that informed opinions of New York and exacerbated the perception of the City’s decline. This seminar explores the politics and culture of New York City during the 1970s. What do representations in popular culture, from cinema to comic books, say about the state of the City in that decade? Did those images match the reality of urban experiences at the time? What political ends did those images serve, and what consequences did they have for the future? Students will learn to outline the resonance of municipal policies, from urban renewal to the militarization of police, as they are reflected in popular culture. Historians will help guide our analysis of politics and culture; but, ultimately, students will interpret primary sources for themselves, developing a deeper understanding of this pivotal decade and how it shaped the future of New York City. In addition to in-class discussions, students will meet weekly with the instructor for individual conferences.

The ideas of John Locke were deeply influential to the development of American government and society. But while Locke may have helped popularize the concept of representative democracy, serving as a North Star for the framers of the US Constitution, he also authored white-supremacist texts that reaffirmed a body of knowledge known today as “race science,” as well as a series of colonial laws that solidified African American slavery in the New World. Such “slave laws” retained their power well after the American Revolution. This lecture traces key currents of race ideology and the belief in white superiority and Black inferiority within the bedrock of the American political landscape. Through a study of primary source documents, guided by an interdisciplinary array of scholarly readings, students will be exposed to the ways in which white-supremacist thought has provided an intellectual foundation supporting a system of white wealth, power, and privilege. Students will explore how racist ideas have shaped crucial concepts related to American democracy.

This seminar features the interdisciplinary study of music and popular culture by focusing on the role of music in the formation of racial and ethnic identities in American history. At various points, the commercial recording industry has both complicated and reified social definitions of race and ethnicity in the United States. Through a careful analysis of a variety of texts—including memoirs from specific artists and critical reviews of albums—and through a consideration of surrounding historical events and phenomena, students will consider the ways in which popular culture and music have shaped concepts of race and ethnicity over the course of the 20th century. How has the commercial recording industry isolated and marketed toward distinct audiences based on race, and ethnicity? How have these market forces influenced group formation in American society? We will explore answers to these questions through historical and ethnographic scholarship that illuminates the cultural contexts in key moments in American history.​

“The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge,” according to F. Scott Fitzgerald, “is always the city seen for the first time, in its first promise of all the mystery and the beauty of the world.” While poetic, this romantic rendering, however, eludes the social struggle that pervades the city’s history. Conversely, the city seen on the silver screen can bring its contradictions into sharp focus. From this perspective, New York City appears as a complicated metropolis, replete with power dynamics along lines of race, gender, and sexuality. In this lecture, students will explore ways in which cinematic representations of New York City map onto distinct permutations and arcs in the city’s history. Each week, we will locate a specific film within a web of historical meaning. This is not a film-studies class, per se; rather, using cinema as a point of departure, we will explore the rich cultural history surrounding specific films. We will think about the connections between films and public policy, poetry, journalism, fine art, popular music, and more. Students will learn to derive historical insights through the analysis of film. Movies like Dog Day Afternoon (1975), for example, signal the rise of mass incarceration and the militarization of NYPD units; but the film also gives expression to the emerging LGBTQ movement and transgender subjectivity. Similarly, lesser-known gems, such as Baby Face (1933), can help illustrate the complex social and cultural terrain through which some women achieved power and independence in Depression era New York.

“The City seen from the Queensboro Bridge,” according to F. Scott Fitzgerald, “is always the city seen for the first time, in its first promise of all the mystery and the beauty in the world.” This romantic rendering of New York, however, elides that social struggle that pervades its history. Conversely, the City seen on the silver screen can bring its contradictions into sharp focus. From this perspective, New York City appears as a complicated metropolis replete with power dynamics along lines of a race, gender, and sexuality. In this lecture, students will explore the ways in which cinematic representations of New York City that map onto distinct permutations and arcs in the City’s history. Each week, we will locate a specific film within a web of historical meaning. Films like Dog Day Afternoon (1975), for example, reference the rising mass incarceration and the militarization of NYPD units; but the film also gives expression to the emerging LGBTQ movement and transgender subjectivity. Similarly, lesser-known gems, such as Baby Face (1933), can help illustrate the complex social and cultural terrain through which some women achieved power and independence in Depression Era New York.

“Hello from the gutters of N.Y.C., which are filled with dog manure, vomit, stale wine, urine, and blood,” David Berkowitz penned from his Yonkers apartment in summer 1977. “Hello from the sewers of N.Y.C., which swallow up these delicacies when they are washed away by the sweeper trucks. Hello from the cracks in the sidewalks of N.Y.C. and from the ants that dwell in these cracks and feed on the dried blood of the dead that has settled in to [sic] the cracks.” Following a series of New York City municipal budget cuts that laid off thousands of city employees and significantly hindered the reach of the NYPD, Berkowitz went on a killing spree that left at least eight dead and millions ensconced in a climate of fear. Using New York City as a point of departure, this seminar explores various methods of humanist inquiry that scholars have used to derive historical meaning about American urban centers. What can comic books, popular cinema, disco music, or even letters penned by an infamous serial killer tell us about the history of cities like New York? Students will learn to identify the impact of municipal policies, from urban renewal to state-sponsored gentrification initiatives. Each week, this seminar will employ a cultural-studies approach to explore a key historical text and examine how the grittiness and substance of this evidence can suggest valuable insights about the past, present, and future of American urban centers.