CLASS HIGHLIGHTS
CLOSE SURROUNDINGS Many of us are inhabiting our immediate surroundings more deeply, as we adapt to life during a global pandemic—paying closer attention to places and to people. These courses are likewise interested in “the significance of space and place,” with focuses spanning from landscape art to city planning to the contemporary American family.
UEP-0252 Cities: Space, Place, and Time This course will introduce students to the history and theory of cities and metropolitan regions, focusing specifically on the actions of planners and policymakers and how these actions shape our communities, neighborhoods, cities, regions,
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and world. The focus will be on the US, but the course will include comparisons to other systems (e.g., UK, Western Europe, Latin America, and China). The course will examine the urban and metropolitan fabric through the lens of work, family, transport and communications, energy, environmental conditions, physical structure, economics, and trade. Race, class, gender, immigration, and culture change will serve as cross-cutting themes throughout the readings, lectures, and discussions. Particular attention will be paid to institutional actors and their responses—governments, business leaders, and community leaders. —Jon Witten and Rebecca Marie Shakespeare, Lecturers of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning SOC-0020 Family and Intimate Relationships This course focuses on understanding the contemporary American family, defined broadly as those with whom one shares resources and values and to whom one has a long-term commitment. Topics include historical and crosscultural variations, dating and romantic love, cohabitation and marriage, parenting, family roles, divorce and family stability, and the future of the family. —Jon Vincent Dzitko, Lecturer of Sociology
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VMS-0160 Landscapes and Ecologies Focusing on how artists have engaged with their environments from the 18th century through the 20th century, this class will subject the subject matter of landscape to close scrutiny. Through a series of case studies, we will examine how the rise in popularity of landscape art allowed artists to speak more broadly about social issues through the depiction of their surroundings, and we will consider how the evolution of the modern world impacted how artists regard the land and emerging urban contexts. Integrating contemporary and historical approaches, this class looks at parallel developments across Western art, and will consider how various stylistic movements in 18th, 19th, and 20th century painting, as well as photography, graphic arts, sculpture, performance, and environmental art have reacted to the significance of space and place, and humankind’s impact on the land. —Emily Willard Gephart, Lecturer of Visual and Material Studies (SMFA at Tufts)
