Archives for Writing
Resonance on Becoming: Old Town, Carmy Berzatto & ME in Chicago
Author: Haokun Fu Program of Study: Master of Arts Program in the Social Sciences (MAPSS), Division of the Social Sciences (SSD) This article is a discussion of the possible resonance of the three objects in the title. Old Town exists on a spatial level of physics. It is a relatively inconspicuous presence in downtown Chicago: The top thirty recommended attractions...
Finding Chicago: The Lost and Found of Lincoln Square Community
Author: Yukun Chen Program of Study: Master of Arts Program in the Social Sciences (MAPSS), Division of the Social Sciences (SSD) Right after getting off the train at the Western station, a giant mural stood in front of me. Unlike most of the murals I’ve seen in the city, which usually give a sense of street culture, this mural...
Milwaukee Express: A Summer Fantasy
Author: Tianyang Fu Program of Study: Master of Arts Program in the Social Sciences (MAPSS), Division of the Social Sciences (SSD) There is something about arriving. Arriving somewhere you have never been to. When you step out of the plane, the train, or whatever transportation you use, the air is different: different in the color of the sky, the...
Binding not only a Community: Bookbinding at Hull-House
Author: Tommaso Bacci Program of Study: Divinity School PhD (DIV) Nowadays the craft of bookbinding seems like an acceptable hobby for voracious readers, for aficionados of antique items, or in general for whomever enjoys the flicking sound of folding, cutting, and stacking paper together and the smell of fresh paper, leather, and glue. It might sound surprising, then, the...
Cycling in Chicago: When Bicycle Culture Collides With Urban City
Author: Huazhi Qin Program of Study: Master of Arts Program in the Social Sciences (MAPSS), Division of the Social Sciences (SSD) Having learned that Bicycle Magazine once ranked Chicago as the best cycling city in the U.S. is not a surprise to me. (Biking in Chicago, 2018) The first time I walked along the Lakefront Trail near Navy Pier,...
Revisiting Bronzeville: Is Chicago’s Black Renaissance at Dawn or Dusk?
Author: Weiqi Wang Program of Study: Master of Arts Program in the Social Sciences (MAPSS), Division of the Social Sciences (SSD) When I was virtually exploring the neighborhoods of Chicago, a sculpture named “Monument to the Great North Migration” grabbed my attention. Accomplished by sculptor Alison Saar, this monument is a self-evident attestation of a legendary historical event: the...
Green Mill Cocktail Lounge: Uptown’s splendor during the Jazz Age
Author: Flory Huang Program of Study: Master of Arts Program in the Social Sciences (MAPSS), Division of the Social Sciences (SSD) As I was wandering on the Chicago Neighborhood website, hoping to find something exciting to write about, one article caught my eye: “5 Chicago neighborhoods for music lovers”. “This is it,” I thought, I have found my gem...
The Second City in the Second City
Author: Jinglan Hong Program of Study: Master of Arts Program in the Social Sciences (MAPSS), Division of the Social Sciences (SSD) Located at 230 W North Ave, Chicago, IL 60614, sits a nationally-renowned comedy theater. The Second City has been an influential improv comedy enterprise for the past decades. Its connection to Chicago is so obvious that one can...
Exploring the Metropolitan Correctional Center: the Leniency and Harshness in Confinement
Author: Xinyi Zhao Program of Study: Master of Arts Program in the Social Sciences (MAPSS), Division of Social Sciences (SSD) The Metropolitan Correctional Center, located at 71 W Van Buren Street in the Downtown neighborhood, is a United States federal prison in Chicago. There are 28 floors within this building, accommodating perpetrators prior and during court proceedings and or...
Maxwell Street: A History of Racial and Cultural Integration
Author: Albus Gao Program of Study: Master of Arts Program in the Social Sciences (MAPSS), Division of the Social Sciences (SSD) I have been a blues fan for years. It didn’t take long before I discovered that Chicago is essentially the birthplace of urban blues in postwar America. When I was browsing through the list of legendary blues artists...