Search: Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, Social Sciences and Humanities

This course surveys the history of American landscape architecture since 1850 in four realms: 1) urban open spaces--that is squares, plazas, parks, and recreation systems; 2) urban and suburban design; and 3) regional and environmental planning; 4) gardens. The course will review the cultural and social contexts which have shaped and informed landscape architecture in the United States since the advent of the public parks movement, as well as the aesthetic precepts, environmental concerns, horticultural practices, and technological innovations of American landscapes. Students will complete a midterm, final, and a research paper.

This course surveys the history of landscape architecture in four realms: 1) gardens; 2) urban open space, that is, plazas, parks, and recreation systems; 3) urban and suburban design; and 4) regional and environmental planning. The course will review the cultural and social contexts which have shaped and informed landscape architecture practice and aesthetics, as well as the environmental concerns, horticultural practices, and technological innovations of historic landscapes

This course will compare and contrast the nature of African American, American Indian, and European American relationships with the American Landscape. Traditional patterns of land use within each subculture will be explored, and juxtaposed against prevailing theory and ideology. Social patterns of use, perception, attached meaning and sense of place, and the transformation of the environment as the result of social change are some of the topics to be discussed.