THE CHICAGO

SCHOOL: ROBERT
PARK
AND LOUIS WIRTH

BY : Ehsan Shahriar Enan

ID : 114191005
Who is urbanism Louis wirth?
Louis Wirth is a noted urban
scholar who created a typology
of urbanism, or the condition of
living in a city, that defines
cities according to three factors:
population size, or the total
number of people; density, or
how many people live in a
particular part of a city; and
social heterogeneity, the
different racial.
Who is Louis wirth ?
• Louis Wirth (August 28, 1897 – May
3, 1952) was an American sociologist
and member of the Chicago school of
sociology. His interests included city
life, minority group behavior, and
mass media, and he is recognised as
one of the leading urban sociologists.
What was Louis wirth theory ?
• In 1938 he published a book
entitled Urbanism as a Way of Life,
which argued for urbanism as the
prevailing way of life in modern
society. Wirth argued that the very
size and density of modern cities
had changed modern people and
their relationships. "Due to city size
people cannot possibly know all
other urbanites.
Who is Robert E. Park ?
• Park, in full Robert Ezra Park,
(born February 14, 1864,
Harveyville , Pennsylvania, U.S.
—died February 7, 1944,
Nashville, Tennessee), American
sociologist noted for his work on
ethnic minority groups,
particularly African Americans,
and on human ecology, a term he
is credited with coining.
What city did Robert park observe when
developing his theory?
• His work, using the streets of Chicago to
meet people and gather research material,
led to the tradition of urban sociology and
human ecology that became the hallmark
of the Chicago School of sociology.
Despite his emphasis on practical work,
Park developed several significant
theoretical concepts.
Chicago School of Sociology
• The Chicago School of Urban Sociology refers to
work of faculty and graduate students at the
University of Chicago during the period 1915– 35.
This small group of scholars (the full time faculty in
the department of sociology never numbered more
than 6 persons) developed a new sociological theory
and research methodology in a conscious effort to
create a science of society using the city of Chicago
as a social laboratory. The Chicago School continues
to define the contours of urban sociology, most
clearly in the contributions of urban ecology and
applied research within the urban environment.
The Chicago School: Robert Park and Louis
Wirth ( Urban Sociology)
• The University of Chicago was founded in 1890 as a
research university modeled after Johns Hopkins
University and Clark University. The Chicago School
of the period discussed here is represented by three
generations of faculty. The first group included Albion
Small (founder of the department), W. I. Thomas,
Charles R. Henderson, Graham Taylor, and George E.
Vincent. The second generation included Small,
Thomas, Ernest Burgess, Ellsworth Faris, and Robert
Park. It was this group that trained the graduate
students responsible for the classic studies of the
Chicago School. The third generation included Park,
Burgess, Louis Wirth, and William Ogburn. This group
of faculty would remain intact until the time Park
retired from the university in 1934.