Future Programs
Spring 2024
Everyone Eats: Food Culture, Security, Sustainability, and Media in New York City
Director: Naomi Guttman, Professor of Literature and Creative Writing
Phone: 315-859-4780
Email: nguttman@hamilton.edu
Our semester will focus on the study of food policy and culture and their effects on the environment, examining issues of identity, equity, sustainability, and security in the great “kitchen” of New York City. We will focus on New York as a classroom in which we learn about our relationship to food via media and culture, as well as the environmental and social effects of food policy. Field trips, courses, and independent studies will center on discovering the city via food cultures, sustainability, policy, and advocacy.
College 395: Food in the City
This is a course in food writing. We will read about and explore the food culture of New York while learning about its rich historical, cultural, racial, and socioeconomic diversity. Local media outlets that focus on food, such as The New York Times, The New Yorker, Eater, Grub Street, will provide the texts for most of our readings. Students will contribute to a weekly blog with different kinds of journalism about their food experiences.
College 396: Independent Study
Each student will contract with the director to pursue an independent project under the director’s supervision that stems from the internship experience and that relates in some way to the semester topics of sustainability, security, and/or food. Deadlines for this project will be outlined in the course calendar. The general expectation is that students will produce a written research paper (at least 12 pages, plus a bibliography/works cited).
College 397: Internship
This course is directly connected to a required internship. Students will complete weekly electronic journals documenting their experience (what they are doing, what they’ve learned and how it connects to the themes of the semester). They will also be asked to consolidate journal entries into a summary at the mid-term and again at the end of the semester. In addition, the internship supervisor will be asked to write a short report which will contribute to the final grade. 4 days/week: M,T, Th, F. Grade: C/NC.
College 398: Seminar on Food, Security and Sustainability
As an international center for culture and commerce, New York offers a unique opportunity when it comes to food and questions of planning for food security and environmental and commercial sustainability. Students will read about these topics and prepare to meet and interview people responsible for designing, implementing or advocating for changes in policy with regard to the environment, labor, sustainability, fair trade, nutrition, and hunger. Credit-bearing elective course for Environmental Studies.
Fall 2024
Urban Inequality in Large US Cities
Director: Paul Hagstrom, Professor of Economics
Phone: 315-859-4146
Email: phagstro@hamilton.edu
The organization and structure of cities create opportunities for economic vibrancy. Major US cities like New York also exhibit higher levels of income inequality within and across demographic groups. With the city as our classroom, we will observe, identify, and seek to explain the drivers of urban inequalities and evaluate policies and structures designed to address them.
395 Demography, Growth, and Inequality in New York City
Large US cities have long been the gateway to the United States for immigrants from around the world. These newcomers provide labor, spur economic growth and add cultural richness to New York. Using field trips and in-class readings, we will examine the roles of immigrants on the evolving economic and social fabric of the city.
396 Independent study
You will write a 20-25 page paper focusing on an economic policy or structure designed to address urban inequality. The paper must focus on New York City and should incorporate an experience, perhaps a volunteer experience, or a discussion with someone directly involved with the policy solution you decide to study.
398 Inequality in Large US Cities
The structure of cities encourages economic growth. Yet, in our largest cities, economic growth tends to be associated with higher rates of poverty, higher rates of unemployment, and higher overall levels of economic inequality. Those at the low end of the economic spectrum tend to be geographically concentrated. Spatial segregation influences the availability of high quality food, the quality of publicly provided education, and the access to affordable housing and well-paying jobs.
We will examine the history, social forces, and policy structures that affect economic inequality, with a special focus on New York and other large US cities. Topics will include housing affordability and segregation, transportation, food deserts, urban labor markets, the digital economy, and demographic trends that affect the composition of our major cities.
Spring 2025
Inequality, Identity, and Immigration
Director: Steve Orvis, Professor of Government
Phone: 315-859-4310
Email: sorvis@hamilton.edu
Fall 2025
Innovation in the Global City
Director: Chris Georges, Professor of Economics
Phone: 315-859-4472
Email: cgeorges@hamilton.edu
Spring 2026
Photography and Arts Leadership in the Global City
Director: Robert Knight, Associate Professor of Art
Phone: 315-859-4266
Email: rbnight@hamilton.edu
Contact
Contact Name
Maddie Carrera
Director of Experiential Learning
