National
Theme:
One
Local Application: Reconfiguring 21st
Century Suburbias (Click here to sample
the Georgia team's applications of this theme.)
To
prepare for their explorations of diverse suburban communities, the Georgia
team studied Kenneth T. Jackson's Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization
of the United States and listened to the National Public Radio oral
memoirs of Carmen Agra Deedy on Growing Up Cuban in Decatur, Georgia.
They also became avid readers of their local newspapers, tracking recurring
stories about immigrants' experiences, innovations in suburban lifestyle,
and issues associated with sprawl (e.g., traffic, endangered natural resources).
They took walking tours of various Atlanta suburbs and did archival research
about the formation of these communities. Additionally, they gathered
oral histories from residents, researched histories of subdivisions and
apartment communities within their targeted areas, and chronicled stories
of recent immigrants. Students interviewed contractors about how subdivisions
are designed and built, used digital cameras to record the rapid changes
in the suburban landscape, and talked with both long-time residents and
newcomers about their views on life in the outskirts of Atlanta.
