Englisch | New York City – Big city of dreams
The Big Apple has become one of the most vibrant cities on the globe that attracts millions of visitors each year. Others have ventured to start a new life in the city that has successfully transitioned into the center of finance, the center of business and retail, the center of news, and a serious competitor to Los Angeles and its entertainment industry.
It seems that the city that never sleeps is on everybody’s mind thanks to countless songs, poems, novels, movies – and was forever burnt into our memory due to the devastating events of 9/11 that shocked the international community.
This seminar will therefore focus on New York City’s history, development, and future and stress its influence on music, the arts, architecture, and society. We will take a closer look at how NYC is represented in different kinds of media, e.g. movies, music, visual arts etc.
Discussion topics/ Theses:
- Nieuw Amsterdam – New York’s colonial beginnings
- New York Harbor and its importance for the city’s development
- Gangs of New York
- The Mafia in New York city
- The Wolf of Wall Street – the history and importance of the New York Stock Exchange
- American Psycho – yuppies in Manhattan
- The Rockefellers
- 9/11 – The day that traumatized the whole world
- 9/11 in literature and movies (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Remember Me etc.)
- Ellis Island – The Golden Door to America
- Miss Liberty
- West Side Story
- Banksy in New York
- New York City’s architecture
- Art Déco in New York
- Beastie Boys, Grandmaster Flash, GangStarr, and Run DMC – New York City’s influence on early American Hip Hop
- WuTang, Jay Z, 50 Cent – Contemporary American Hip Hop
- The Jewish community of New York City
- The 5 boroughs of New York City
- The development of Manhattan’s Meatpacking District
- Harlem and Black America
- Seinfeld, Friends, Sex and the City, and How I Met Your Mother – New York depicted in US sitcoms
- Woody Allen and his movies – a declaration of love to New York
- The Stonewall riots and the development of Gay Pride
- The New York Yankees vs. the New York Mets – more than just baseball
