GEOG/URPL 305 - Introduction to the City (Fall 2003)

Swimming Pool Project

Welcome to the Swimming Pool project web site! This site has been set up to display the projects that various groups prepared in conjunction with the course titled Introduction to the City that I teach. Feel free to surf through this site, and learn more about Madison’s swimming pool ‘situation’.
Comments on this course project are very welcome – please send them to me (Kris Olds) at olds@geography.wisc.edu.

As you surf through this site remember that these are course projects and that the main idea is to 'learn while doing'. There is a considerable variety of styles incorporated into the projects, and they are truly eclectic. This outcome is by design – the students were given some broad directions, but also considerable leeway to approach the topic as they wished. Given this I recommend that you do not formally compare each project, but attempt to learn from each one. Also, please note that these projects were produced for my consumption (ie not public consumption) as the teacher of this course, and evaluator of these projects. The content is, in no way, directed towards the general public. I know they all worked very hard on this project.

For your reference, my formal instructions, in the course syllabus, are included below.
Enjoy!

Kris Olds (Associate Professor, Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Madison)

Extract from the original course syllabus
original syllabus

[Please note that there are four Discussion Groups in GEOG/URPL 305. Each Discussion Group had four separate types of groups within it (ie Group A – the activists; Group B – the planners; Group C – the social scientists; Group D– the consultants.) In addition there were some slight adjustments made to the expectations incorporated into this project given student feedback]

The major task of this course is to conduct original research in Madison in a ‘learning while doing’ exercise. I would like you to think about, and analyze the social, cultural and ideological foundations of Madison’s swimming pool situation (and here you will note I say situation, which implies both presence and absence). For those of you who are new to Madison, you will quickly find out that there are no ‘real’ public swimming pools in Madison; a rather strange situation given the relative wealth and social structure of the city. I want you to use the pool situation as a lens through which to examine broader issues that relate to the nature of urban life in Madison, and also the United States more generally. I am interested in having you think about how Madison’s public pool system reflects the wider social, economic and political organization of the society that maintains it. In short your task is to engage (i.e., decide if you agree or disagree or fall in the ‘grey zone’) with the idea that is associated with Henri Lefebvre as noted above – the idea that the production of urban space ‘serves as a tool of thought and action; ... in addition to being a means of production it is also a means of control, and hence of domination, of power’. The seemingly mundane space of the swimming pool is a perfect place to start.
I would also like you to structure your research and the writing up stage so that you actually engage in real life debates about the pools issue. Given this objective all of the project output will be loaded onto a project web site near the end of the course and this site will be viewable to the public and also publicized. One group is also charged with the responsibility of writing Isthmus and Capital Times articles. This is an ideal time to engage in this simmering debate given the problems with the lakes (closures, weeds) and the recent elections in Madison.
More specifically, I see the following scenario emerging. First, four groups of roughly equal size will be created. Each group then needs to identify 2-3 ‘leaders/facilitators’ along with one technical support person (who is web-savvy). The group roles and responsibilities:

Group Output

Group A New Pool Activists

Your advocacy must be based on the analysis of research data. You must also create an Isthmus article and an Op-ed piece for the Capital Times.

Project 1 (website)

Project 2 (website)

Project 3 (website)

Project 4 (website)

Group B City Planners

Policy options report. The report should discuss what the City of Madison’s options are with respect to the pool issue, and how to implement each of the identified policy and project options.

Project 1 (website)

Project 2 (pdf)

Project 3 (website)

Project 4 (website)

Group C Social Scientists

Journal article(s) on the social, cultural and ideological foundations of Madison’s swimming pool situation.

Project 1 (pdf)

Project 2 (pdf)

Project 3 (pdf)

Project 4 (pdf)

Group D Policy Consultants

Context report that compares the what (what is Madison’s pool situation; how does it compare to similar sized cities throughout North America, Australasia and Western Europe?) and the why (why might this be so?)

Project 1 (website)

Project 2 (website)

Project 3 (webpage)

Project 4 (pdf's)

It is expected that each of the groups will share all of the data they collect. A method needs to be developed to enable this to happen, and we can assist you in this task.
Each group should then work to develop their ‘outputs’; all of which will be launched on a project web site(s) for public viewing during Week 14. The technological support person from each group should see us so we can put you in contact with the Department of Geography’s web support person.
The project, which is worth 40% of your final grade, will be completed when each group’s report is loaded on the web site, and when the web site(s) are saved on one CD-ROM that is submitted to me. No written report is due. Please note that a group mark will be allocated for each of the four groups but that I have also developed a confidential feedback document that enables relative inputs and problems to be identified. In short I am 100% aware of the positives and negatives associated with group projects, and will work quickly to accentuate the positives while minimizing the negatives.