Sample Curricula

Architecture & Design in an Urban Setting
Historical
     48-240 (79-104) Historical Survey of World Architecture & Urbanism
     79-355 The American Skyscraper: Its History and Development
Theory or Context
     51-171 Human Experience in Design
     79-113 Culture & Identity in American Society
Project
     51-479 Design Methods: Analysis and Creativity (research)
     60-301 Art in Context (practice)

Visual Culture
Historical
     60-206 Contemporary Visual Culture: after 1945
     62-371 (79-372) Photography, The First 100 Years
Theory or Context
     60-355 (79-303) Visual Anthropology
    48-576 Mapping Urbanism
Project
     60-388 Creative Digital Media Theory and Practice (research)
     60-301 Art in Context (practice)

Urban Studies
Historical
     76-432 Modernism and the Harlem Renaissance
     79-237 City Histories: Delhi and London
Theory or Context
     57-374 Music in the Urban School
     76-437 The American Cinema
Project
     60-399 Art History/Theory Independent Study (research)
     54-389 Speech and Theatre Community Outreach (practice)

Language & Culture
Historical
     54-381 History of Drama
     76-239 Introduction to Film Studies
Theory or Context
     76-386 Language and Culture
     82-304 The Francophone World
Project
     76-365 Beginning Poetry Workshop (research)
     54-389 Speech and Theatre Community Outreach (practice)

Course Descriptions

48-240 Architectural History I: Historical Survey of World Architecture and Urbanism
Fall: 9 units
Reflecting the inseparable relation between building and human needs, this course is not only a history of architecture, but also a history through architecture. The design, use, meaning and legacy of a building is conditioned not only by the architect’s will or the patron’s desire, but also by a complex web of technological, social, cultural, economic, and political factors of the time. This course examines world architecture and urbanism from prehistoric times through the 20th century, including the built environment of Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the Americas.

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48-576 Mapping Urbanism
The aim of this course is to provide the critical tools necessary to examine the city as both a representation and a reality in flux. Through an interdisciplinary framework we will study urban history, theory, visual thinking and information design. Weekly lectures will introduce world cities and their typologies – e.g. the classic city, the shrinking city, the growing city and the megalopolis. Through readings, films, and class discussions that highlight the juxtaposition of socio-economic and physical factors, students will gain a more sensitive and holistic understanding of urban issues.

Parallel to these urban explorations, we will study and employ a diverse set of tools with which to map urbanism, including traditional mapping techniques such as Nolli plans and Sanborn maps; cultural critiques of world map projections and tourist maps; and contemporary experimental explorations which draw from art, architecture and interactive web design. Weekly assignments will include student projects and presentations that synthesize required readings, writing and mapping. The final outcome will involve city case studies and the utilization of various representational techniques to create inventive mappings, possibly documented in a multi-media format. Our aim will be to learn new ways of seeing and portraying the city.

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51-171 Human Experience in Design
Fall: 9 units
This course introduces the central theme of design and the design professions: the importance of human beings in all aspects of design thinking and practice. We will begin by exploring design and the human dimension, discussing the nature of human beings and their physical, psychological, and spiritual or cultural needs. Then, we will consider the role of human beings in the design process, exploring how designers respond to human needs and issues of value. Finally, we will discuss the scope of design in our personal, social, and cultural environment, observing how thoroughly design has permeated our lives through images, physical objects, services, and environmental systems, extending even to a profound impact on the ecological system of the planet. This is the first course in the Design Studies
sequence of the department. Lectures, discussions, and written assignments, with readings and extensive visual materials. Required for all design majors.

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54-381 History of Drama
Fall: Mini Session - 3 units
These are eight-week Junior/Senior level dramatic literature courses, meeting twice weekly, based around a single period, author, genre, or ‘theme’. A typical theme might be ‘Drama and Science’ ‘Aggressive Comedy’; ‘Dialectics and Drama; ‘The Rebel in Drama”; Greek drama; Arabic drama; non-realist drama, and so on. The intention is that often very heterogenous plays can be grouped together to reveal both comparisons and contrasts in dramatic methods. At the conclusion of the course students write a paper on its main themes.

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54-389 Speech and Theatre Community Outreach
Fall: 9 units
Students will develop a process of teaching theatre to middle school children. Elementary school children will work with drama students from several disciplines in a mentoring relationship and learn that theatre is a collaborative experience. The result will be joint artistic performances at CMU. The Children’s Heritage Theatre will present classic text as well as newly scripted plays based on myths and fairy tales from international cultures.

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57-374 Music in the Urban School
Intermittent: 9 units
This course will involve workshops with nationally known instructors in eurhythmics, world drumming, contemporary popular music, and classroom management. The course will require attendance at workshops, classroom observations and closely supervised teaching experiences. Schools involved are all inner city schools with a poverty level of 75% or above. This course is offered as the result of a grant received from the Federal Department of Education by the School
of Music, the Pittsburgh Public Schools, and the Wilkinsburg School District.

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60-206 Contemporary Visual Culture; from 1945 to the Present
Spring: 9 units
Explores contemporary issues and ideas from the end of World War II to the present. Covers pluralism and the departure of art(s) from traditional environments, with the accompanying technical, theoretical, sociological, economic and political consequences. Topics include art and technology, mass media and communications, and the emergence of new art institutions and their alternatives. Open to sophomores in the School of Art, or by instructor permission.

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60-301 Art in Context
Fall: 10 units
Students affiliate artmaking with a context outside of the university and within the Pittsburgh community. Students develop a relationship with an organization and artmaking is carried out within the context of that organization. Students may take this course for one or two semesters. Open to juniors in the School of Art, or by instructor
permission.

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60-355 & 79-303 Visual Anthropology
The use of photography and film in anthropology raises important theoretical and methodological questions. Using ethnographic films and selected anthropological readings as our source material, we discuss issues like: the relationship between the "observer"and the "subject"; the influence of culture on styles of interpretation; the problems of representation. Developments in anthropology, as well as in film and photography, are also considered. Students are expected to think critically about anthropology, visual imagery, and more general issues of "studying culture." Prerequisites: 79-201

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60-388 Creative Digital Media Theory and Practice
The availability and relative "ease of use" of computer-based tools to support creative processes has had great impact on creative digital media aesthetics and practices. These tools have prompted a shift from a focus on functionality (e.g. what cool things can I do) to the context of the aesthetic experience (e.g. what do I want to express). Creative digital media works offer alternative ways to engage and critique the impact of technology in society from serendipitous interactions to social and cultural criticality. This work crosses traditional boundaries of art, design, architecture, computer science and engineering to form a transdisciplinary interactive genre. The class will explore the impact of creative digital media through readings, reviews of seminal works and discussion to understand how technology has been and continues to shape contemporary aesthetic expressions and how aesthetics has impacted technological innovations. The class is appropriate for undergraduate and graduate students interested in studying contemporary aesthetic practices that incorporate technology as the primary medium for creative expression.

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60-399 Art History/Theory Special Topics
A tutorial course in which an Art student works individually on a self-generated project under the supervision of a School of Art faculty member. Prior to enrolling in Independent Study, the student must complete an "Independent Study Proposal" form (available in the bins on the 3rd floor of CFA) which is signed by the faculty member and the Assistant Head of the School of Art. Prerequisite: Art junior or senior status, or permission of instructor.

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76-239 Introduction to Film Studies
Fall or Spring: 9 units
Core course for H&SS Film and Media Studies Minor
This course provides an introduction to the technology, history, semiotics, and ideology of film. Its focus is the Hollywood film, with special concentration on the “studio era” of that form, 1920-1950. The course is organized more or less historically, beginning with early films by Méliès, Porter, and the brothers Lumière, moving through the
development of different styles in European and American silent features, and then into the sound era. It will also consider recent alternatives to Hollywood such as the French “New Wave” directors and feminist independent filmmakers. In addition to this general historical plan, the course is also designed to survey the various techniques by which films are made, and the signs of which films are constructed. Throughout the course, we will be concerned with the ideologies present in the films we see, especially those concerning gender and class. At several points, we will focus specifically on a theory of film criticism, including feminism and auteurism. In general, the approach is to draw connections between the films and the larger culture.

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76-365 Beginning Poetry Workshop
Fall & Spring: 9 units
Prerequisite: 76-265 with a grade of A or B.
Poetry workshops are a series of courses involving discussion of poems produced by members of the class. Emphasis is on basic techniques of prosody, structure, and imagery. This course may be taken more than once for credit.

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76-386 Language and Culture
Fall or Spring: 9 units
The subject of this course is the life-world of language, the inseparable link between a language and the culture of its speakers. We will investigate this relationship through a range of questions including the following: Do the words and conventions of our own language trap us inside a conceptual prison? What are the social consequences of differences in speech? What happens when languages compete for political exclusivity? Can language be legislated? What role does language play in areas of ethnic difference? Along what dimensions do the roles of language vary in different societies, and among their own speakers? By what methods do linguists and anthropologists research language in its
cultural setting?

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76-432 Modernism and the Harlem Renaissance
UNDERGRADUATE SECTION. This advanced seminar takes a broad, interdisciplinary approach to studying Harlem Renaissance culture and its significance. The Harlem Renaissance roughly encompasses a period in America between the two World Wars. Mass migration of African Americans to urban areas north and south, the experience of fighting for the U.S. overseas, a developing global consciousness, and improved education constituted some of the conditions of modernity that changed the composition, structure, and mindset of Black America. Black cultural production during this period articulated a form of American modernism, encouraged black political and social consciousness (and thus changed the face of urban and national politics), and spurred lasting debates about the relationship between culture and identity. It is well known that an explosion of literary production characterized African American culture during this period. Less well known are the roles performance, music, art and public debate played in ushering in new conceptions of community and race. Course materials include written work by Nella Larsen, Alain Locke, Zora Hurston, and Langston Hughes, including works that remain controversial, like Carl Van Vecthen's Nigger Heaven. We will also examine artwork, music, and film and theatrical production. This class will approach questions of race, migration, creative expression, transnationalism, community, and identity.

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76-437 The American Cinema, 1930-2000
9 units
This course will look at major works and major directors of sound-era American Cinema in the context of the history of the film industry and the larger society. The course will focus on the changes that follow major transitions in the industry: the production code of 1934; the consent decree of 1948; the end of the production code in 1968. We will look at the work of major directors, such as Hawks, Hitchcock, Coppola, and Polanski, major genres, such as screwball comedy, women's pictures, and Westerns, and major styles, such as film noir. Writing assignments will include a research paper. There will be readings in film history and criticism as well as weekly screenings. It is suggested that undergraduates have taken 76-239.

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79-104 Introduction to World History
All Semesters: 9 units
Introduction to World History challenges students to think analytically about the major historical processes that shaped and continue to shape cultures and civilizations. The course is based on a series of case studies that focus on shifting power relations between and within civilizations. Three major themes connect the several topics discussed throughout the semester: issues of authority and inequality within civilizations; encounters and conflicts between civilizations; and patterns of continuity and change across space and time. The course demonstrates how
historians explain what has happened in the past and in various civilizations and cultures; presents the kinds of evidence that historians use to reconstruct the past; and examines the interpretations historians make based on this evidence. The semester begins with a consideration of the rich culture of medieval Iberia and then moves on to discuss: the encounters between the “old” world and the “new”; the emergence of a transatlantic society; industrialization in Europe and China; environmental imperialism in India; and tradition and modernity in
post-colonial Africa.

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79-113 Culture and Identity in American Society
Intermittent: 9 units
This discussion course focuses on economic identity from the era of Benjamin Franklin to the dot-com bust of recent years. We will study changing ideas about the American Dream, considering how class, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, and occupation shape our assessments of ourselves and each other. Readings include memoirs, poems, and fiction from authors such as Thoreau, Frederick Douglass, and Arthur Miller. Assignments include a readings journal and short essays.

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79-237 Cities in History: London and Delhi
Intermittent: 9 units
The British Empire connected two great cities, London and Delhi, but even before the British came to India, Tudor London and Mughal Delhi presented a dazzling display of imperial politics and culture to the world. This course looks at the parallel destinies of these metropolises - from that period into the reign of Queen Victoria and her Indian Viceroys and then to the age of Gandhi and Churchill. Finally, it examines some of the ways in which post-colonialism and globalization have affected these two civic cultures. Art, architecture, autobiographies, diaries, poetry, films,
newspaper reports and state documents will be some of the varied materials students will use for this course.

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79-355 The American Skyscraper: Its History and Development
Intermittent: Mini Session - 6 units
Returning to America in 1904, the novelist Henry James complained that “monsters of greed” had transformed the New York of his youth into “a huge jagged city.” During his absence, the skyscraper had been born from a marriage of technology and commercial growth, and was beginning-not without opposition-to dominate the country’s urban skylines. Focusing on such major monuments as Adler and Sullivan’s Wainwright Building (1891), William Van Alen’s Chrysler Building (1930), and Mies van der Rohe’s Seagram Building (1958), this course will trace the development of America’s greatest contribution to the Western cityscape from the first “elevator buildings” of the 1870s, through
the Art Deco towers of the 1920s and the gleaming glass monoliths that proliferated after World War II, to the Postmodern skyscraper of today.

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82-304 The Francophone World
Fall and Spring: 9 units
This course introduces the student of French to several of the francophone regional cultures outside of France, including North and West Africa, Belgium, Quebec, and the Antilles. The culture commonly associated with the French language is the primarily Christian and Cartesian European tradition. Through the experience of this course, you will learn of the multiple synthetic cultural realities which have arisen through the colonial and post-colonial processes of contact between European and non-European cultures, and which are now expressed through the medium of the French language. Materials studied will include novels, short stories, essays, newspaper and scholarly articles, film, documentary video and song. The course also introduces students to the formal requirements of continuing cultural study, thus assignments will include analyses that demonstrate the ability to express critical judgments in both written and oral form, using accepted academic conventions for research documentation and exposition. Prerequisites: 82-303 or permission of the instructor.

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