Paris and Manhattan: From Colonial Cities to World Capitals

Cities are both sites of tradition solidified and of history erased and re-written—places of eternal change and transformation. How are our concepts of difference and function (gender, race, class) embedded in the cities we construct? How do cities work, and under what conditions have they changed and adapted? We will examine and critique different visions of the urban community: the city as body, machine, and spectacle. 

In this session, we will explore Paris and New York—from their beginnings as early island and river settlements to colonial towns, and finally to cities competing for the title of capital of the world in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries. We will examine the urban environments of Paris and New York as layered spaces of material objects, images, and ongoing human experience. In the process, we will compare and contrast ancient, medieval, and early modern cities, with a focus on the development of the city as an organic space—moving forward to the industrial city as a manufactured spectacle in the 20^th and 21^st centuries. Topics along the way include parks, architecture, world fairs, literature, art, and film.

Michael Budd, Ph.D., is the author of “The Sculpture Machine: Physical Culture and Body Politics in the Age of Empire” (Macmillan U.K./N.Y.U. Press 1997). He has written for scholarly and popular venues, including the International Journal of Sport History, and Afterimage. Michael’s current research focuses on global consumer identity and the national body in relation to technology, memory, violence and authoritarian ideas. He earned his B.S. degree from the University of Oregon and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Modern European history from Rutgers University. He is a professor in Salve Regina University’s history department and the humanities Ph.D. program.