COURSE OVERVIEW:

The purpose of this course is to introduce you to the craft of conducting action-oriented research in urban settings.  Working in teams, students will design and implement original research projects.  Each team will produce a research report for submission at the end of the semester and will also present the report to the class.  I expect that most reports will be written products, although other formats, such as a documentary video or a website, are possible.

Our emphasis will be on research in collaboration with urban organizations, agencies, or groups that have a direct interest in the subject of the research.  The research will therefore necessarily involve a fair amount of time being spent out of the classroom.  I have some contacts and relationships with organizations and individuals who have expressed an interest in working with student researchers, and the students in the course will undoubtedly have some, too.  We will undertake our research in ways that respect the interests and insights of the organizations and individuals with whom we collaborate, as well as our own interests.

Different teams of researchers will be working on different substantive topics.  Consequently, there is no single syllabus for everyone.  We will build the details of the course as we go along.

Many journal articles are available online, usually through JSTOR or ProQuest.  I recommend starting by using MIRLYN to locate the journal title.

I have found that, for reasons unknown to me, links to older NY Times articles retrieve the entire article with Microsoft Explorer but retrieve only an article abstract with Netscape.  If you run into a problem with a link, try another browser.  If that fails, please email me and let me know.
 

Introduction to community-based policy research in urban settings.

Kretzmann, John P. 1995. "Building communities from the inside out," Shelterforce (Sept./Oct.)

Axel-Lute, Miriam. 1999. "Town & gown: Making research serve communities' needs," Shelterforce, 108 (Nov./Dec.).

Staudt, Kathleen, and Christine Thurlow Brenner. 2000. "Higher education engages with community: New policies and inevitable political complexities."

Stoecker, Randy. 1997. "Are academics irrelevant? Roles for scholars in participatory research," American Behavioral Scientist, 42 (5): 840-854.

Raloff, Janet. 1998. "Democratizing science," Science News, 54 (19): 298-300.

Robinson, Tony. 2000. "Service learning as justice advocacy: Can political scientists do politics?" PS, Political Science & Politics, 33 (3): 605-612.

Sclove, Richard E., Madeleine L. Scammell, and Breena Holland. 1998. Community-Based Research in the United States. Amherst, MA: Loka Institute (Executive summary)

Israel, Barbara, et al. 2001. "The Detroit community-academic urban research center: Lessons learned in the development, implementation and evaluation of a community-based participatory research partnership," Journal of Public Health Management & Practice, 7(5): 1-19.

Nyden, Philip, and Wim Wiewel. 1992. "Collaborative research: Harnessing the tensions between research and practitioner," The American Sociologist, 23 (4): (Winter), 43-45.

Strand, Kerry, et al. 2003. "Principles of best practice for community-based research," Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, 9 (3): 5-15.

Greenwood, Davydd J., William Foote Whyte, and Ira Harkavy. 1993. "Participatory action research as a process and as a goal," Human Relations, 46 (2): 175-.

Ansley, Fran, and Gaventa, John. 1997. "Researching for democracy and democratizing research," Change, 29 (1): 46-54.

Zelditch, Morris. 1962. "Some methodological problems of field studies," American Journal of Sociology, 67 (5): 566-576.

Nyden, Phillip, et al., eds. 1997. Building Community: Social Science in Action. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press.

Participatory Action Research: A menu of methods

Loka Institute website

PRAG (Policy Research Action Group) website
 

Background Materials on Metro Detroit

Gallagher, John. 1999. "Government choices sped Detroit's blight," Detroit Free Press. April 10.

Kurth, Joel, et al. 2001. "Region is diverse, not mixed: Metro Detroit is most segregated area in nation, census shows," Detroit News (April 1).

Sugrue, Thomas J. 1996. The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality in Postwar Detroit. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Farley, Reynolds, Sheldon Danziger, and Harry J. Holzer. 2000. Detroit Divided. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

Wowk, Mike. 2003. "More immigrants drawn to Metro Detroit diversity," Detroit News (Jan. 7).

Arellano, Amber, and Kathleen Gray. 2001. "A shifting ethnic mosaic," Detroit Free Press (March 29).

View online: Cook, Christopher M. 2001. "The Sprawling of America: Inner City Blues" (55 minutes).

"Grappling with growth: Metro Detroit in transition." 2002. Special report series by the Detroit News.

Farley, Reynolds, Sheldon Danziger, and Harry J. Holzer. 2000. Detroit Divided. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

Michigan Neighborhood Partnership. 2002. 2002 State of the Neighborhoods Report. (Acrobat document)

Website for MOSES (Metropolitan Organizing Strategy Enabling Strength), the metro Detroit community organization, of which U-M is a member.

City of Detroit Department of Planning and Development

Check out the "Fabulous Ruins of Detroit"
 

RESEARCH TEAM TOPICS

1. Facilitating Political Participation: Voter Education, Registration, and Mobilization

Online registration for the Feb. 7, 2004 Democratic presidential caucuses

Michigan Democratic Party (including information about caucus locations, procedures, etc.)

Michigan Republican Party (including information about the GOP state caucus, May 21-22 in Grand Rapids)

Michigan Secretary of State's Elections homepage

Wayne County Clerk homepage

City of Detroit Department of Elections homepage

Marin Institute "Community Organizing: 'One-on-ones'"

Markus, Gregory B.  2002. "Civic participation in American cities." Revised version of paper presented at 2001 APSA meetings, San Francisco. (.pdf file)

Boyte, Harry C., and Nancy N. Kari. n.d. "Democracy of the people: Expanding citizen capacity." (.pdf)

Putnam, Robert D. 1995. "Bowling alone: America's declining social capital," Journal of Democracy, 6 (Jan.): 65-78.

Fuchs, Ester R., Lorraine C. Minnite, and Robert Y. Shapiro. 2000. "Political capital and political participation." Paper presented at APSA annual meeting, Washington, DC. (.pdf)

Brady, Henry E., Kay Lehman Schlozman, and Sidney Verba. 1999. "Prospecting for participants: Rational expectations and the recruitment of political activists," American Political Science Review, 93 (1): 153-168.

Verba, Sidney, Kay Lehman Schlozman, Henry E. Brady, and Norman H. Nie. 1993. "Citizen activity: Who participates? What do they say?" American Political Science Review, 87 (2): 303-318.

Brady, Henry E., Sidney Verba, and Kay Lehman Schlozman. 1995. "Beyond SES: a resource model of political participation," American Political Science Review, 89 (2): 271-294.

Warren, Mark R. 1998. "Community building and political power: a community organizing approach to democratic renewal," American Behavioral Scientist, 42: 78-92.

Sunstein, Cass R. 2002. "On a danger of deliberative democracy," Daedalus, 131 (4): 120-124.

Eliasoph, Nina. 1997. "'Close to home': The work of avoiding politics," Theory and Society, 26 (5): 605-647.

Rosenstone, Steven J. and John Mark Hansen. 1993. Mobilization, Participation, and Democracy in America.  New York: Macmillan.

Dawson, Michael C. 1994. Behind the Mule: Race and Class in African-American Politics. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

DeSipio, Louis. 1996. Counting on the Latino Vote: Latinos as a New Electorate. Charlottesville, VA: University Press of Virginia.

Payne, Charles M. 1995. I've Got the Light of Freedom. Berkeley: University of California Press.
 

2. Urban Education

Education Policy Clearninghouse of the American Association for American Education -- "No Child Left Behind" website

Willow Run Community Schools website

Melchior, Dave (2003) "New Willow Run schools chief wants to improve district education, perception," Ypsilanti Courier (Sept. 4).

Feighan, Maureen (2004) "Schools brace parents for state grades," Detroit News, (Jan. 14).

Traub, James. 2000. "What no school can do," New York Times Magazine (Jan. 26).

Rothstein, Richard. 2001. "Reducing poverty could increase school achievement," New York Times, March 7.

Shirley, Dennis. 2001. "Patience and politics: Alliance Schools develop parental leadership," Shelterforce (July/Aug.)

Jehl, Jeanne, Martin Blank, and Barbara McCloud. 2001. "Lessons in collaboration: Bringing together educators and community builders," Shelterforce (July/Aug.)

Meier, Deborah 2000. "Educating a democracy: Standards and the future of public education," Boston Review (Feb./March).

Noguera, Pedro A. 1996. "Confronting the urban in urban school reform," Urban Review, 28 (1): 1-19.

Noguera, Pedro A. 1999. "Transforming urban schools through investments in social capital," In Motion, May 20 (multipart article).

Darling-Hammond, Linda.1998. "Unequal opportunity: Race and education," Brookings Review, 16 (2), pp. 28-32.

"Powerful Pathways: Framing Options and Opportunities for Vulnerable Youth." Flint, MI: Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, October 2001. (.pdf)

Lee, Valerie E., and David T. Burkam. 2002 Inequality at the Starting Gate. Washington, DC: Economic Policy Institute. (Executive summary)

Posner, J.K., and Vandell, D.L. 1994. "Low-income children's after-school care: Are there beneficial effects of after-school programs?" Child Development, 65 (2), 440-56.

Henig, Jeffrey R., et al. 1999. The Color of School Reform: Race, Politics, and the Challenge of Urban Education. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Shirley, Dennis. 1997. Community Organizing for Urban School Reform. Austin: University of Texas Press.

Stone, Clarence N., et al. 2001. Building Civic Capacity: The Politics of Reforming Urban Schools. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas.

Schorr, Lisbeth B. 1997. Common Purposes: Strengthening Families and Neighborhoods to Rebuild America. New York: Anchor Books, ch. 8.

Rothstein, Richard. 2001. "Assessing money's role in making schools better," New York Times, Nov. 14.

The Urban Education Web: http://eric-web.tc.columbia.edu/
 

3. Economic Redevelopment in the Inner City:  Do Federal, State, and Local Programs Matter?

Porter, Michael E. 1995. "The competitive advantage of the inner city," Harvard Business Review, 73 (May-June): 55-71.

Goozner, Merrill. 1998. "The Porter prescription," The American Prospect, 38, May-June.

Dewar, Margaret E. 1998. "Why state and local economic development programs cause so little economic development," Economic Development Quarterly, 12 (1): 68-87.

Stories in Detroit Free Press, Jan 18, 2000, on Empowerment Zones, with features on EZs in Atlanta, Baltimore, Camden, Chicago, New York City, Philadelphia, and editorial on Detroit.

City of Detroit Planning and Development Department. 2002. "Detroit: A World Class City, III" (website).

McKnight, John. 1987. "Regenerating community," Social Policy (Winter).

Guyette, Curt. 2001. "Down a green path: An alternative vision for a section of east Detroit takes shape," Metrotimes, Oct. 31.

Voith, Richard. 1996. "Central city decline: Regional or neighborhood solutions?" Business Review (March/April).

Porter, Michael E. 1997. "New strategies for inner-city economic development," Economic Development Quarterly, 11 (1): 11-27.

Harrison, Bennett, and Amy Glasmeier. 1997. "Why business alone won't develop the inner city," Economic Development Quarterly, 11 (1): 28-38.

Eisinger, Peter. 2000. "The politics of bread and circuses: Building the city for the visitor class," Urban Affairs Review, 35 (3): 316-333.

Logan, John, and Harvey Molotch. 1987. Urban Fortunes: The Political Economy of Place. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Boston, Thomas D., and Catherine L. Ross, eds. 1997. The Inner City, Urban Poverty, and Economic Development in the Next Century. New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction.

Gittell, Ross, and J. Phillip Thompson. 1999. "Inner-city business development and entrepreneurship: New frontiers for policy and research." In Morris Fiorina and Theda Skocpol, eds., Civic Engagement in American Democracy. Washington: Brookings Press, pp. 473-520.

Rocky Mountain Institute resource materials on community economic development.

Detroit LISC website

Shelterforce Magazine articles about CDCs.

Housing Policy Debate, quarterly journal of the Fannie Mae Foundation.

Department of Housing and Urban Development homepage for grantees.

Walljasper, Jay. 1997. "When activists win: The renaissance of Dudley St." The Nation, March 3.

Sklar, Holly, and Peter Medoff. 1994. Streets of Hope: The Fall and Rise of an Urban Neighborhood. Boston: South End Press. See also the DSNI Website.

Mahan, Leah,  and Mark Lipman. 1996. "Holding Ground: The Rebirth of Dudley Street" (video available at U-M Library Film and Video Library, 2nd floor UGLI).

Powell, Michael 2003. "Philadelphia begins ambitious urban renewal program," Detroit News (March 15).

McWhirter, Cameron. 2001. "Faulty land records slow Detroit rebirth," Detroit News (March 22).

Seigel, Ron.  2002. "Detroit's renewal destroys integration," Detroit News (Nov. 22).

Detroit Economic Growth Corporation website.

Grogan, Paul S., and Tony Proscio. 2000. Comeback Cities: A Blueprint for Urban Neighborhood Revival. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

Phillips-Fein, Kim (1998) "The still-industrial city: Why cities shouldn't just let manufacturing go," The American Prospect, 40 (Sept.-Oct.)

Sittenfeld, Curtis. 1999. "Hope is a weapon," Fast Company, 22 (Feb.), p. 178.

"Miracle in Detroit: A New Hope," 1997. The NewsHour, PBS-TV, Dec. 17. (Transcript and audio of feature on Focus:Hope.)
 

4. Public Transportation:  Regional Transit and Commuter Rail

DARTA homepage

Meredith, Robyn. 1998. "Job-seeking Detroiters cannot get to where the jobs are," New York Times (May 26).

Egan, Timothy. 1999. "Concrete choices: Freeways, their costs and 2 cities' destinies," New York Times, July 14, p. A1.

Helms, Matt. 2002. "Disabled activists urge transit bill OK," Detroit Free Press, Nov. 22.

Parsons Transportation Group. 2002. Lansing to Detroit Commuter Rail Baseline Survey: Final Report (Feb.). (.pdf)

SEMCOG. 2001. Downtown Detroit to Metro Airport Rail Study (June). (.pdf)

SEMCOG. 2002. Regional Transportation Opinion Survey: Reporting the Results. (June). (.pdf)

SEMCOG. 2002. Improving Transit in Southeast Michigan: A Framework for Action. (.pdf)

Weyrich, Paul M., and William S. Lind. 1999. Does Transit Work? A Conservative Reappraisal. Washington, DC: Free Congress Foundation. (multipart download)

Weyrich, Paul M., and William S. Lind. n.d. "Conservatives and Mass Transit: Is it Time for a New Look?" Washington, DC: Free Congress Foundation.

Manolatos, Tony. 2002. "Metro commutes tax time, wallets," Detroit News (Sept 30).

Blumenthal, Ralph. 2004. "Houston inaugurates first-time mayor and long-awaited train," New York Times (Jan. 3).

Barrows, Matthew. 2002. "L.A. success speeds bus rapid transit," Sacramento Bee, Oct. 14.

Murray, Mark. 2000. "Seeking justice in roads and runways," National Journal, March 4, Vol. 32 (10), p. 712.

Metropolitan Land Use Institute. "Mobility in Metropolitan Detroit" Website. (Lots of useful articles and resources)

Manolatos, Tony. 2002. "Calif. sets strong mass transit example," Detroit News (Sept 30).

Blouse, Richard E. Jr., et al. 2003. "Regional transit agency promises better way," Detroit News (Jan. 19)

Heinlein, Gary.  2003. "Transit plan under revision," Detroit News (Feb. 23).

Editors. 2003. "Don't let communities secede from mass transit pact," Detroit News (Feb. 9).

Ramsey, Duane. 2001. "Regional passenger rail service not just for commuters," Insider Business Journal (Sept. 10).

Thayer, Kelley. 2001. "Road to rail: Getting Michigan on board with transit alternatives," Metro Times, Feb. 20.

Mason, J. W. 1998. "The buses don't stop here anymore: Sick transit and how to fix it," The American Prospect, no. 37, March-April.

Barrows, Matthew. 2002. "L.A. success speeds bus rapid transit," Sacramento Bee, Oct. 14.

Luberoff, David. 2000. "Road injustice," Governing Magazine, July, p. 90.

Kurth, Joel. 2002. "Dearborn plans to launch new mass transit hub," Detroit News (Jan. 10).
 

5.  Promoting Community Health: School-Based Health Centers

Detroit Community-Academic Urban Research Center website

Center for Health and Health Care in Schools, Website on School-Based Health Centers

Center for Health and Health Care in Schools, Outcomes reported from studies published in peer reviewed journals

Center for Mental Health in Schools at UCLA. 1998. Technical Assistance Sampler on School-Based Health Centers. Los Angeles: UCLA Center for Mental Health in Schools. (.pdf)

Morone, James A., et al. 2001. "Back to school: A health care strategy for youth," Health Affairs, 20 (1): 122-136.

National Assembly on School-Based Health Care

Lienert, Anita. 2000. "School health clinics may be cut," Detroit News (April 14).

Lear, Julia G. 1996. "Health care goes to school: An untidy strategy to improve the well-being of school-age children." In Irwin Garfinkel, Jennifer L. Hochschild, Sara S. McLanahan (eds). Social Policies for Children. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.

Lear, Julia G. 1997. "School-Based Health Care." In S. B. Friedman et al., eds. Comprehensive Adolescent Health Care, 2nd ed., Saint Louis: Mosby.

Koppelman, J., and Julia G. Lear. 1998. "The new child health insurance expansions: How will school-based health centers fit in?" Journal of School Health, 68(10): 441?446.

Lear, Julia G. 2002. "Schools and adolescent health: Strengthening services and improving outcomes," Journal of Adolescent Health, 31 (6): S310?S320.

Lear, Julia G., N. Eichner, and J. Koppelman. 1999. "The growth of school-based health centers and the role of state policies: Results of a national survey." Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Health, 153 (11): 1154?1159.

Lear, Julia G., et al. 1996. "Key issues affecting school-based health ccenters and Medicaid," Journal of School Health, 66 (3): 83?87.

Rickett, Kamala D., Julia Graham Lear, and John J. Schlitt. "Bibliography of Select School-Based Health Center Publications," Journal of Adolescent Health, 17 (2): 77?82.

Schlitt, John J., et al. 1995.  "State initiatives to support school-based health centers: A national survey," Journal of Adolescent Health, 17 (2): 68?76.

Epstein, Helen. 2003. "Enough to make you sick?" New York Times Magazine (Oct. 12).

McKnight, John. 1995. "Politicizing health care." In John McKnight, The Careless Society. New York: Basic Books.

Perez-Pena, Richard. 2003. "An everyday struggle for breath; Childhood asthma project reaches out in Harlem," New York Times (May 1), p. B1.

Noble, Holcomb B. 1999. "Far more poor children are hospitalized for asthma, study shows," New York Times, July 27, p. B1.

Bodipo-Memba, Alejandro. 2003. "Barriers to health care: Hispanics find language, lack of insurance are double obstacles when families need treatment," Detroit Free Press (March 13).

Israel, Barbara A., et al. 1998. "Review of community-based research: Assessing partnership approaches to improve public health," Annual Review of Public Health, 19: 173-202. (Available through a U-M connection, at the ARPH website.)
 

6. Arts, Culture, and Urban Renaissance

Florida, Richard. 2002. The Rise of the Creative Class. New York: Basic Books, ch. 1.

Florida, Richard. 2002. "The rise of the creative class," Washington Monthly (May).

COMEDIA website

Landry, Charles. 2000. The creative city: a toolkit for urban innovators. London: Earthscan.

Mumford, Lewis. 1938. The Culture of Cities. New York: Harcourt, Brace.

Heath, Brad, and John Wisely. 2003. "33,371 young people bolt Metro Detroit," Detroit News (Sept. 18).

Aguilar, Louis. 1999. "Detroit neighborhood rebounds: Clubs, cafes and galleries eyed in trendy community that Mexicans call home," Detroit Free Press, Feb. 27.

Harden, Blaine. 2003. "Brain-gain cities attract educated young," Washington Post (Nov. 9), p. A1.

Franklin, Rachel S. 2003. "Migration of the young, single, and college-educated, 1995-2000" (Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau.  (.pdf)

Read about Hastings Street and "Paradise Valley" in Detroit

Eisinger, Peter. 2000. "The politics of bread and circuses: Building the city for the visitor class," Urban Affairs Review, 35 (3): 316-333.

Guyette, Curt. 2001. "Down a green path: An alternative vision for a section of east Detroit takes shape," Metrotimes, Oct. 31.

Kennedy, Maureen, and Paul Leonard. 2001. "Dealing with neighborhood change: A primer on gentrification and policy choices." Washington, DC: Brookings Institution. (.pdf)