Course Calendar

Link to class weblog (password protected).

Week 1
M 9/24: Introduction to the class. Lecture: Why study landscape.
W 9/26: J.B. Jackson and landscape. Field session/Field exercise 1 assigned: looking at Monmouth. Reading: Jackson, "J.B. Jackson and the discovery of the American Landscape" (Horowitz), ix-xxxi, "The word itself," 300-306, and "By way of conclusion," 307-318.

Week 2
M 10/1: George Nelson and visual literacy. Reading: Nelson, Preface (Forbes), vi-ix, and "Introduction: a world God never made," x-xxi. Jackson, "Notes and comments: basic principles," 333-336. Field exercise 1 due.
W 10/3: Introduction to semiotics (part 1). Reading: Chandler, "Introduction," 10-11 and 1-10, Recommended reading: Chandler, Preface, xiii-xvi.

Week 3
M 10/8: Introduction to semiotics (part 2). Reading: Chandler, chapter 1, 13-17, 22-38, and 51-56. Recommended reading: Chandler, chapter 1, 18-22 and 38-47.
W 10/10: Field session: letterform semiotics. Reading: Chandler, chapter 4, 123-126 and 137-143. Nelson, "Communications: letterforms," 2-7.

Week 4
M 10/15: J.B. Jackson themes: mobility. Reading: Jackson, "The stranger's path," 19-29, "The abstract world of the hot-rodder," 198-209, and "Roads belong to the landscape," 248-254. Nelson, "City: cities and highways from the air," 104-105.
W 10/17: Semiotics and the "realities" of landscape. Field exercise 2 assigned. Reading: Chandler, chapter 2, 59-82. Nelson, "Communications: art and reality and focus," 8-11, and "City: great American street corner, skylines, and strips," 88-93.

Week 5
M 10/22: Coding landscapes. Reading: Chandler, chapter 5, 147-173. Nelson, "Art: transformations," 42-47. Field exercise 2 due.
W 10/24: J.B. Jackson themes: vernacular landscapes. Field exercise 3 assigned. Reading: Jackson, "Other-directed houses," 184-197, "The vernacular city," 236-247, and "'Sterile' restorations cannot replace a sense of the stream of time," 366-368.

Week 6
M 10/29: Analyzing semiotic structures. Reading: Chandler, chapter 3, 83-88, 90-93, 100-106, and 109-113, and chapter 6, 186-190 and 194-197. Recommended reading: Chandler, chapter 3, 93-100 and 114-119, and chapter 6, 177-186. Field exercise 3 due.
W 10/31: Field session: deconstructing Monmouth City Hall. Reading: Nelson, "Communications: nonverbal messages," 14-15, "Communications: reinforced messages," 20-23, "Communications: noble beasts, public people and nonpeople, and symbolic people," 30-35.

Week 7
M 11/5: Landscape and inter- and intra-texuality. Reading: Chandler, chapter 6, 197-209. Jackson, "Jefferson, Thoreau, and after," 175-182, "Statement in 'Whither architecture? Some outside views'," 292-295.
W 11/7: Semiotics: questions and concerns. Field exercise 4 assigned. Reading: Chandler, chapter 7, 211-225. Nelson, "Communications: informal messages," 16-17, "Geometrics and other exercises: circles and patterns," 78-83, and "City: discontinuity," 100-101.

Week 8
M 11/12: J.B. Jackson themes: social justice. Reading: Jackson, "The Tale of a House," 320-332, "Notes and comments," 336-339, and "To pity the plumage and forget the dying bird," 355-365.
W 11/14: Field session: prohibitions and directions. Reading: Nelson, "Communications: arrows and no-no," 12-13 and 24-25, and "City: visual interruption," 102-103. Field exercise 4 due.

Week 9
M 11/19: Field session: pedestrian mobilities. Reading: Nelson, "Mobility: pedestrian streets, public sitting, city floors, manhole covers, and erosion of pedestrian space," 58-71.
W 11/21: By way of review: Field session/Field exercise 5: looking at Monmouth again.

Week 10
M 11/26: Portfolio presentations.
W 11/28: Portfolio presentations.

Finals week: Portfolios due by 2:00 on W 12/5. Presentations, if needed, W 12/5 12:00-2:00. Additional information and details TBA.