Date: Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009 Time: 6:00 p.m.–7:30 p.m. (EST)

How did urban poverty and immigration give rise to Progressivism? What can we learn about poverty, urbanization, and immigration by considering Riis's first-hand accounts of them, both verbal and photographic? How did Riis use photography as an instrument for political advocacy? What was the importance of Riis's How the Other Half Lives as a document of Progressive reform?

LEADER:

Joy Kasson Professor of American Studies University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill National Humanities Center Fellow

• Assigned Readings
  1. Jacob Riis, How the Other Half Lives: Studies among the Tenements of New York, 1890
     
     • Note and discussion questions
     • Text
  2. From How the Other Half Lives:
     
     • Chapter 1: Genesis of the Tenements
     • Chapter 2: The Awakening
     • Chapter 6: The Bend
  3. For further information about Riis and more illustrations of his photography, consider the following websites:
     
     • Documenting "The Other Half": The Social Reform Photography of Jacob Riis and Lewis Hine
     • Who Took the Photograph?
     • Masters of Photography: Jacob Riis
• Seminar Presentation (PowerPoint, 2.34MB)
• Seminar Evaluation (Available on day of seminar.)
• Forum