Yale is marking the second offering of its academic course examining New Haven's most pressing issues by inviting others in the city and environs to take part in the spring semester program.
Titled "New Haven and the Problem of Change in the American City," the Yale course is available for credit to students and faculty at Albertus Magnus College, Quinnipiac College and Southern Connecticut State University. In addition, the public is invited to attend the course's lectures, which will be held on Tuesdays beginning Jan. 13, 11:30 a.m.-12:40 p.m. in the auditorium of Luce Hall, 34 Hillhouse Ave.
"New Haven and the Problem of Change in the American City" will examine the rapid transformation that the Elm City and other American cities have undergone over the past century. The course will focus in detail on the history and prospects of one New Haven neighborhood, and compare that with case studies of other cities throughout the nation. Among the themes that will be explored are the spatial sorting of populations by class, and the planning and policy implications of the flow of higher-income populations away from the inner city. In addition, issues important to New Haven's future -- such as employment, housing, education, health care and public safety -- will be explored, as will the successful strategies that other cities have used to overcome their most pressing issues.
The course is taught by Douglas Rae, the Richard Ely Professor of Management at the School of Management and the City of New Haven's chief administrative officer 1990-91; Cynthia Farrar, assistant secretary for urban policy development in the Yale Office of New Haven Affairs and adjunct associate professor of political science; and Alan Plattus, associate professor of architectural design and theory and associate dean of the School of Architecture. All three have worked with the Dwight neighborhood as part of a University partnership and with other community projects in New Haven. Historian Stephen Lassonde, an expert on the history of public education in New Haven, will present a guest lecture and teach a section.
"Yale made a decision some years ago to turn its urban location into an advantage," Rae says. "One element of that is to give New Haven a place in the curriculum. New Haven has a lot to teach our students, and we hope this course will enrich their understanding of American cities in general. Opening the course to regional students extends this line of thought."
"This course is an important aspect of Yale's New Haven Initiative," adds Farrar. "The course draws on what we have learned from our activities in all three areas of the New Haven Initiative: economic development, human development and neighborhood revitalization. We hope to offer a historical and comparative perspective on the city's opportunities that will help inform the way in which Yale pursues its longterm partnership with New Haven. For the many Yale students who participate in city life -- as residents and community volunteers -- the course will provide context for their activities."
The only other Yale undergraduate course open to the public is the DeVane Lecture series.