Amanda I. Seligman – författare

What do you do if your alley is strewn with garbage after the sanitation truck comes through? Or if you're tired of the rowdy teenagers next door keeping you up all night? Is there a vacant lot on your block accumulating weeds, needles, and litter? For a century, Chicagoans have joined block clubs to address problems like these that make daily life in the city a nuisance. When neighbors work together in block clubs, playgrounds get built, local crime is monitored, streets are cleaned up, and every summer is marked by the festivities of day-long block parties. In Chicago's Block Clubs, Amanda I. Seligman uncovers the history of the block club in Chicago from its origins in the Urban League in the early 1900s through to the Chicago Police Department's twenty-first-century community policing program. Recognizing that many neighborhood problems are too big for one resident to handle but too small for the city keep up with city residents have for more than a century created clubs to establish and maintain their neighborhood's particular social dynamics, quality of life, and appearance.Omnipresent yet evanescent, block clubs are sometimes the major outlets for community organizing in the city especially in neighborhoods otherwise lacking in political strength and clout. Drawing on the stories of hundreds of these groups from across the city, Seligman vividly illustrates what neighbors can and cannot accomplish when they work together.

In the decades following World War II, cities across the United States saw an influx of African American families into otherwise homogeneously white areas. This racial transformation of urban neighborhoods led many whites to migrate to the suburbs, producing the phenomenon commonly known as white flight. In Block by Block, Amanda I. Seligman draws on the surprisingly understudied West Side communities of Chicago to shed new light on this story of postwar urban America. Seligman's study reveals that the responses of white West Siders to racial changes occurring in their neighborhoods were both multifaceted and extensive. She shows that, despite rehabilitation efforts, deterioration in these areas began long before the color of their inhabitants changed from white to black. And ultimately, the riots that erupted on Chicago's West Side and across the country in the mid-1960s stemmed not only from the tribulations specific to blacks in urban centers but also from the legacy of accumulated neglect after decades of white occupancy.Seligman's careful and evenhanded account will be essential to understanding that the "flight" of whites to the suburbs was the eventual result of a series of responses to transformations in Chicago's physical and social landscape, occurring one block at a time.

Are you researching the history of the Milwaukee area and looking for suggestions about what to read next? If so, this Bibliography of Metropolitan Milwaukee provides an excellent starting point. Organized into 19 thematic chapters that are further organized by topic, The Bibliography of Metropolitan Milwaukee includes resources for Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington, and Waukesha counties. Subjects covered include places, biographies, race and ethnicity, politics, business, the economy, charity, religion, the arts, architecture, recreation, health, gender, the natural environment, media, infrastructure, bibliographies, and archives. This volume offers the most comprehensive bibliographical resources about the Milwaukee area ever produced.

Landing a job in today's academic job market is no easy feat. Is graduate school the answer? This informed and candid book provides anyone thinking about pursuing an advanced degree - and those who support them - with the inside scoop on what to expect in graduate school. Amanda I. Seligman helps potential students navigate graduate study - not just how to get in but how to succeed once you are there and what to expect when you leave. She weighs the pros and cons of attending graduate school against achieving a sustainable work-life balance and explains the application process, the culture of graduate school, and employment prospects for academics. This book guides readers through the ins and outs of graduate school, and no topic is off limits, including: qualifications and admission guidelines; financial aid and graduate stipends; meeting expectations and residency requirements; coursework, theses, and dissertations; degrees, jobs, and academic careers; tenure, research, and peer review; and, social life (will you still have one?) Written in a question-and-answer format, "Is Graduate School Really for You?" eliminates the guesswork.Whether you are considering applying to graduate school, already enrolled, or would simply like to know more about continuing your education, this is the book for you.