Barnard CollegeColumbia University

Owen D. Gutfreund

Owen D. GutfreundAssociate Professor of History and Urban Studies
Director of the Barnard and Columbia Urban Studies Programs

407 Lehman Hall, Barnard College
(212) 854-4876, Fax: (212) 854-0559
E-mail: odg1@columbia.edu

Office Hours: Tuesdays 2:30-4:30

Courses taught:
URBS V3545x Junior Colloquium: Shaping of the Modern City
URBS/HIST V3525y 20th Century Urbanization in Comparative Perspective
PLAN 4112 History of Urbanization and the Physical Structure of Cities
PUAF 6420 Urbanization in Developing Countries
HIST 3496 History of American Cities
HIST 4401 Reinventing American Cities, New Deal to the Present

Research Interests:
Urban history
Suburbanization
Sprawl
Transportation policy
Sports Arenas and Stadiums
The Built Environment

Education:

Ph.D. in History, with Distinction, Columbia University, 1998
Dissertation: 20th Century Sprawl: Accommodating the Automobile and the Decentralization of the United States

M.A. in History, Columbia University, 1990
Thesis: The Path of Prosperity: Manhattan's East River Drive

B.A., with Honors, Vassar College, 1985
Thesis: Interstate Banking: A Case Study of the Interactions Between Market Forces, Regulations, Innovations, and Politics

Selected Publications and Conference Papers:

20th Century Sprawl: Highways and the Reshaping of the American Landscape (Oxford University Press, 2004)

"Rebuilding New York in the Auto Age: Robert Moses and His Highways" in Robert Moses and the Modern City: The Transformation of New York, edited by Hilary Ballon and Kenneth T. Jackson (New York: W.W. Norton, 2007)

"Managing Metropolitan Growth: Lessons from the United States" (keynote speech), International Forum on Metropolitan Development, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, June 14 2007

"L'Envahissement Des Campagnes par le Villes: L'Expansion Metropolitaine aux Etats Unis" in Les Trois Sources de le Ville-Campaigne, P. Bonin and C. Gobin, eds. (Paris: Belin 2005)

"Airport Hub Networks and the National Urban Hierarchy" presented at the second International Conference on the History of Transport, Traffic, and Mobility, 2004

"The Rise of Sprawl" in BIG Magazine, #42, June 2002

"'What's Good for the Country is Good for General Motors, and vice versa'" - presented at the annual meeting of the Organization of American Historians, 2001.

"Small-Town Sprawl and Big-City Sprawl: A Long-Term Problem for American Communities of All Sizes" - presented at the Eighth National Conference on Planning History, 1999.

"The Annexation Wars: Urban-Suburban Competition in Metropolitan Denver" - presented at the annual meeting of the Social Science History Association, 1999.

Other Professional Activities:

New York Council for the Humanities, Board Member (1998-2005, Vice Chair 2001-02, Chair, 2002-2003)
The Skyscraper Museum, Board Member
Columbia University Seminar on the City (Chair 2001-2004)
Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy, Faculty Fellow
Blythedale Children's Hospital, Vice Chairman
Mt. Pleasant-Blythedale Unified School District, Board Member, (President, 1996-2002)
Encyclopedia of New York City (Second Edition), Associate Editor
New-York Journal of American History, editorial board
Urban History Association, Board Member
Journal of Urban History, editorial board