American Urban History I
MIT OpenCourseWare offers this seminar on the history of institutions and institutional change in American cities from roughly 1850 to the present. The syllabus works through political machines, police departments, courts, schools, prisons, public authorities, and universities as they developed in urban America. The course runs as readings and discussions rather than lectures, and OCW provides the syllabus, readings list, and assignments used in the MIT seminar. It suits anyone interested in how city institutions formed, fought for power, and reshaped themselves over more than a century, and it works well alongside its companion course, American Urban History II. No video lectures are included, since the course is discussion based, but the full set of course materials is free to access and reuse under MIT's open license.