Before the foundations for the Eiffel Tower were laid, or the City of Lights strung with a single streetlamp, Paris was a rough and tumble maze of crooked medieval streets, overflowing cemeteries, and dismal sanitation. Tracing Paris's transformation into the first modern metropolis in the West—one with broad boulevards, street lighting, public squares, a police force, and even public restroom facilities—this class will ask students to analyze and write about the city as a historical artifact. Using police archives, memoirs, songs, images, and films, we will examine how "ordinary" Parisians experienced the changing city, dwelling at length on the experiences of women and colonial citizens. We will examine how the creation of public spaces and amenities fostered novel urban experiences, but also reinforced racial and gendered inequalities among the city's residents. And, finally, we will reflect on how and why Paris came to hold such power over twentieth-century American writers and artists, using films and magazine articles as jumping-off points for our own written reflections.

Course Requirements:

Three short essays; one social media assignment; one creative assignment; one final research paper

Intended Audience:

First-year students who need to take an introductory writing class at Michigan.

Class Format:

Seminar.