Compares representation of crime and the city in two key "texts": Charles Dickens's "Oliver Twist" and the HBO television series, "The Wire." Juxtaposes the social and political contexts to which each text refers, paying particular attention to the nature and causes of criminal activity therein. Explanations emphasizing individual or personal responsibility will be contrasted to those that take structural factors into account, including urban housing, public health, child labor, public education, poverty and its relief, urban governance, as well as the criminal justice system.
Department of African & African American Studies