The unimagined city : public humanities and change in Fayetteville, North Carolina

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Bolton Anthony (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Advisor
Fritz Mengert

Abstract: The case study at the center of this dissertation describes an innovative public humanities program which was conducted in Fayetteville, North Carolina, during the fall of 1977. Sponsored by the Cumberland County Public Library with funds provided by the North Carolina Humanities Committee, "The Unimagined City: A Program for Fayetteville" examined issues of urban growth, downtown decay and community values and featured a thirteen week residency by Henry L. Kainphoefner, dean emeritus of the School of Design at North Carolina State University. Subsequent events in Fayetteville suggest that the broad public discussion initiated by this project served as the catalyst for significant community change. The chapters which precede and follow the case study provide a theoretical context for the examination of a number of broad public questions raised by the project, chief among which are how the modern experience of privatization has diminished American civic life and how it might be reinvigorated through a revival of public discourse. The political theory developed by Hannah Arendt in The Human Condition is used in the discussion of these matters, and a model which clarifies the role of a public institution as the initiator of public debate is proposed.

Additional Information

Publication
Dissertation
Language: English
Date: 1987
Subjects
Public works $z North Carolina $z Fayetteville
Fayetteville (N.C.) $x Politics and government
Fayetteville (N.C.) $x Social conditions

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