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Dear Colleagues: As the semester draws to a close, I wanted to take a moment to share with you a few reflections on my experience with my graduate class on the "New Suburban History," whose syllabus appeared on the H-Urban in the early fall. Several of you responded offline to its appearance, and I was most gratified by your compliments. I am happy to report that in fact the course turned out quite well. The students really got the purpose of the class, especially the explicit emphasis on historiography (a topic I have raised from time to time on the H-Teach list). They became quite adept at drawing connections between the different authors and assessing their relationships. They also know a lot about the history of suburbs, which some of them had never thought of as historical topics before they signed up for the class. About mid-way through the semester I changed the topic for the final paper to a simpler question: Is there a new suburban history? I was pleased to discover that several of the students responded to my in-class directions that they were encouraged to challenge the intellectual framework of the course. The results were split. In their final papers, 9 argued that yes, there is a new suburban history, and 6 argued that there is not. They all agreed, however, that the field is a lively one with much more work to be done. Best wishes for a happy new year, Amanda -- Amanda I. Seligman Assistant Professor of History, Urban Studies Programs University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
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