Defining Chicago: Algren, Liebling, Terkel, Royko, and Bellow

Class Description

Chicago was the “wonder city” of the late nineteenth century, impressing the world with its innovative industries, soaring skyscrapers, and the Columbian Exposition, while it also shocked the world with its pollution, rampant criminality, and political corruption. By the mid-twentieth century, writers had a sense that Chicago was a city in decline, changing in ways that didn’t bode well for Chicago's future. This course will be a discussion-based seminar, grappling with the fundamental Chicago Question: What is this place? Writers beloved (Algren, Terkel, Royko), despised (Liebling), and above-it-all (Bellow) grappled with questions of racial and class identity, the environment, the economy, and political corruption. We will do so as well; by putting these texts in conversation with each other, we will apply their insights and lessons (positive and negative) to contemporary Chicago culture.

Bill Savage is Professor of Instruction in the English Department at Northwestern University. He has taught Newberry Seminars since 1992.

All virtual classes are recorded and made available to participants registered in the class. These recordings are password-protected and available for up to two weeks after the class ends.

Materials List

Required

• Liebling, A.J., Chicago: The Second City. University of Nebraska Press, 2004. ISBN: 0-8032-8035-1
• Algren, Nelson, Chicago: City on the Make. University of Chicago Press, 2011. ISBN: 978022601386-2
• Terkel, Studs, Studs Terkel’s Chicago. The New Press, 2012. ISBN: ‎ 978-1595587183
• Other Instructor-Distributed Materials

A Brief Syllabus

1. Introduction: Chicago as Wasteland and Wonder City both
2. Chicago: City on the Make. Algren’s Divided City
3. Chicago: The Second City. The Outsider’s Angle
4. Excerpts from Boss: Daley’s Chicago
5. Chicago: Terkel’s Echo of Algren
6. “A Writer from Chicago”: Bellow’s Dystopian City

Cost and Registration

6 sessions, $245 ($220 for Newberry members, seniors, and students). Learn about becoming a member.

We offer our classes at three different price options: Regular ($245), Community Supported ($230), and Sponsor ($260). Following the models of other institutions, we want to ensure that our classes are accessible to a wider audience while continuing to support our instructors. You may choose the price that best fits your situation when registering through Learning Stream.

To register multiple people for this class, please go through the course calendar in Learning Stream, our registration platform. When you select the course and register, you’ll be prompted to add another registrant.

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