This course will explore the mutual influences of ideas of nature, theories …
This course will explore the mutual influences of ideas of nature, theories of city design and planning, and practices of urban design, construction, and management. We will investigate how natural processes shape urban landscapes (from the scale of street corner to region) and how to intervene strategically in those processes in order to achieve certain goals. We will examine cases of cities that adapted successfully to natural processes and those that did not. Students will then have the opportunity to research a case of their choice and to present their findings for discussion. The subject may be historical or an an example of contemporary theory and practice. Additional information is also available at Professor Spirn's class website.
After catastrophic flooding in New Orleans destroyed two hospitals, the Southeast Louisiana …
After catastrophic flooding in New Orleans destroyed two hospitals, the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System is planning a replacement facility that will incorporate resilience against future extreme events.
Do you want to think about ways to help solve New Orleans' …
Do you want to think about ways to help solve New Orleans' problems? CityScope is a project-based introduction to the contemporary city. “Problem solving in complex (urban) environments” is different than “solving complex problems.” As a member of a team, you will learn to assess scenarios for the purpose of formulating social, economic and design strategies to provide humane and sustainable solutions. A visit to New Orleans is planned for spring break 2007.
Do you want to think about ways to help solve New Orleans' …
Do you want to think about ways to help solve New Orleans' problems? CityScope is a project-based introduction to the contemporary city. "Problem solving in complex (urban) environments" is different than "solving complex problems." As a member of a team, you will learn to assess scenarios for the purpose of formulating social, economic and design strategies to provide humane and sustainable solutions. A visit to New Orleans is planned for spring break 2007.
City to City, as a class, will jump into the complexity of …
City to City, as a class, will jump into the complexity of planning in New Orleans, a post-disaster city. City-to-City will ask how a post-disaster city grapple with its ideas of identity, what it is, who it represents, and how it projects its sense of self to residences, businesses, tourists, and to the outside world. In considering its people, how do city planners think about who lives where and why? At the same time, how can city planners celebrate a city's history and its culture and how can these elements be woven into reconstruction? Students will travel from Cambridge to New Orleans over Spring Break to meet and consult with their alumni clients, and continue to work on projects.
In this lesson, djembefola Weedie Braimah will introduce students to the cultural …
In this lesson, djembefola Weedie Braimah will introduce students to the cultural traditions of drumming in Congo Square. Students will collaboratively plan and design a community “Square” that represents a collective cultural space.
- Discuss the western African music traditions of Congo Square in New Orleans. - Describe the essence and purpose of Congo Square. - Examine personal, social, and cultural identities. - Identify personal, social, and cultural traditions. - Design a common cultural community space for expressing music, history, and culture. - Present cultural community space concepts to an audience.
Preservation Hall Lessons is designed for all K-12 teachers or educational professionals that want to foster the culture and history of New Orleans music genres. The lessons can be integrated into general content areas like Language Arts, Math, Social Studies, and Science, or beginning to advanced Music Education studies.
This class is designed to expose you to the cycles of disasters, …
This class is designed to expose you to the cycles of disasters, the roots of emergency planning in the U.S., how to understand and map vulnerabilities, and expose you to the disaster planning in different contexts, including in developing countries.
This transcribed article from American Radio Works discusses the hurricane risk in …
This transcribed article from American Radio Works discusses the hurricane risk in New Orleans. The 2002 article talks about how deep flood waters would be in a Category Five hurricane and the likelihood that such a storm would hit. Users may also listen to the article using Real Player audio program.
Students learn what causes hurricanes and what engineers do to help protect …
Students learn what causes hurricanes and what engineers do to help protect people from destruction caused by hurricane winds and rain. Research and data collection vessels allow for scientists and engineers to model and predict weather patterns and provide forecasts and storm warnings to the public. Engineers are also involved in the design and building of flood-prevention systems, such as levees and floodwalls. During the 2005 hurricane season, levees failed in the greater New Orleans area, contributing to the vast flooding and destruction of the historic city. In the associated activity, students learn how levees work, and they build their own levees and put them to the test!
In the wake of Katrina the entire gulf coast is embroiled in …
In the wake of Katrina the entire gulf coast is embroiled in a struggle over what constitutes "appropriate" rebuilding and redevelopment efforts. This practicum will engage students in a set of work groups designed to assist local community based institutions and people in shaping the policy and practices that will guide the redevelopment and rebuilding efforts in the city of New Orleans.
Students design and build their own model levees. Acting as engineers for …
Students design and build their own model levees. Acting as engineers for their city, teams create sturdy barriers to prevent water from flooding a city in the event of a hurricane.
This course focuses on the physical and economic renewal of urban neighborhood …
This course focuses on the physical and economic renewal of urban neighborhood Main Streets by combining classroom work with an applied class project. The course content covers four broad areas:
An overview of the causes for urban business district decline, the challenges faced in revitalization and the type of revitalization strategies employed; The physical and economic development planning tools used to understand and assess urban Main Streets from physical design and economic development perspectives; The policies, interventions, and investments used to foster urban commercial revitalization; and The formulation of a revitalization plan for an urban commercial district.
This semester, we will read writing about travel and place from Columbus's …
This semester, we will read writing about travel and place from Columbus's Diario through the present. Travel writing has some special features that will shape both the content and the work for this subject: reflecting the point of view, narrative choices, and style of individuals, it also responds to the pressures of a real world only marginally under their control. Whether the traveler is a curious tourist, the leader of a national expedition, or a starving, half-naked survivor, the encounter with place shapes what travel writing can be. Accordingly, we will pay attention not only to narrative texts but to maps, objects, archives, and facts of various kinds. Our materials are organized around three regions: North America, Africa and the Atlantic world, the Arctic and Antarctic. The historical scope of these readings will allow us to know something not only about the experiences and writing strategies of individual travelers, but about the progressive integration of these regions into global economic, political, and knowledge systems. Whether we are looking at the production of an Inuit film for global audiences, or the mapping of a route across the North American continent by water, these materials do more than simply record or narrate experiences and territories: they also participate in shaping the world and what it means to us. Authors will include Olaudah Equiano, Caryl Philips, Claude Lévi-Strauss, Joseph Conrad, Jamaica Kincaid, William Least Heat Moon, Louise Erdrich, Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca. Expeditions will include those of Lewis and Clark (North America), Henry Morton Stanley (Africa), Ernest Shackleton and Robert F. Scott (Antarctica).
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