History class blurs Yale/Elm City boundaries

Beyond the 300-year-old walls of Yale University lies a city with an even longer history—and a city of which many students know little about. This year, though, four professors are trying to change that.

With the return of the popular class "New Haven and the Problem of Change in the American City," educating students about their temporary hometown is back in the public eye.

DAVID GEST/YH Students in "New Haven and the problem of Change in the American City" must tackle some of the Elm City's problems as part of their final project.

This is the third year the course has been offered at Yale. It debuted in 1995, was reinstated in 1998, and, according to present plans, will continue to be offered biannually. The four professors handling the class this semester are History Professor Stephen Lassonde; Douglas Rae and Cynthia Farrar, both of the Political Science Department; and Alan Plattus, a professor from the School of Architecture.

Since its founding, the course has been open to both members of the New Haven community and Yale students. In 1998, professors invited students from nearby Albertus Magnus College, and Quinnipiac University to join the class. This year, students from Gateway Community College and the University of New Haven are also enrolled.

Carolyn Choy, BR '02, is enthusiastic about the prospect of meeting New Havenites. "It always amazes me [that] we're in a town with four other universities and we don't really have contact with them," Choy said. "It helps break down the `Ivy wall.' I love seeing people from the community at lecture."

Aside from the mixed composition of the class, this year's course boasts additional changes, including a revamped syllabus. "We change [the class] somewhat every time," Farrar said. For example, students enrolled in the course in 1995 had over 2,000 pages of reading, but that figure has been significantly reduced this year. The material covered has also become more focused over the years. For Lassonde, changing the subject matter is one of the course's greatest strengths. "It helps my teaching to look at things from a different perspective," he said.

Rae, Farrar, and Plattus have all worked with New Haven community projects in the past, including the revitalization of the Dwight neighborhood. "We all have collective and individual experiences with the city," Plattus said.

"I have a sense of a growing interest in cities and in the city around us," Farrar added. After meeting students with a desire to change the world, she has come to realize that the only way for them to enact change is to first understand how the world works. And New Haven—their home for at least four years—is an optimal place to start.

Still, while many students may not be ready to change the world during their time at Yale, students in the class will have the opportunity to propose a way to change New Haven for their final project. Working in groups, they will be presented with a real city problem and asked to draw on what they have learned to devise a solution.

What group a student is in depends on what section he is assigned to—and what section he attends is based on which one of three fields he finds most interesting. According to many Yalies, the possibility of specialized sections is one of the most prominent benefits of having professors from different fields.

At the beginning of the course, students were given the choice of a section relating to Architecture, Ethics, Politics, and Economics, History, or Political Science. Farrar said the University scheduled the class during lunch hour in hopes that more community members would be able to attend. But good intentions were undone by logistical problems, and sections for Yale are separate from sections for other university students. This setup has upset some students, as it appears to run counter to the course's inclusionary policy."I feel like there should be some kind of forum for members of the community and other colleges to discuss the issues," Choy said. "And the fact that there were discussion sections for members of the public the last time the class was offered makes their absence this year even more apparent."

Although the all-Yale sections may cast a bit of a shadow on the class, Choy still feels that "New Haven and the Problem of Change in the American City" will help her get a firmer grasp on the issues New Haven faces.

Lassonde feels it is just as important for New Haven residents to feel connected to Yale as it is for Yalies to feel connected to the city. "Yale's future is closely linked to New Haven," he said.

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