Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning Courses

Program | Faculty | Master's | Doctoral | Courses

All courses carry 3 credits unless otherwise specified.

Landscape Architecture

501 Studio I—Reading and Revealing the Site

Introduces students to reading and responding to the site. Goals include learning to experience and record the landscape, to design in response to the site, to think creatively, to generate design ideas and understand design as a process, to gain knowledge of design precedents and principles, and to learn tools and techniques of visual expression.

503 Studio II—Landscape Space, Design, and Meaning

An exploration of the modes of space: two-dimensional surfaces, three-dimensional objects, spatial enclosure, and the open continuous landscape. Emphasis on the media of landform, water, plants, and structures as the defining agents of human space in the garden and the landscape.

543 History and Theory I

A survey of the evolution of structures, settlements, and landscapes in the western world from the origins of human societies to the close of the Medieval period.

544 History and Theory II

Completes the survey begun in LandArch 543. Covers the Renaissance to the present.

547 Theory: Landscape Pattern and Process

Landscape patterns resulting from interactions of biotic, abiotic, and cultural resources and processes over time. Understanding these dynamics as a basis for planning and design interventions.

554 Studio III—Spaces and Places in Context

Application of spatial theroy and design process to a specific site context. Develops map reading skills at various scales, strengthens drawing, lettering, and cross-section representation skills. Emphasis on landform design in a public park setting.

556 Studio IV—Landscape Planning

Introduction to landscape analysis, assessment, and planning with focus on ecological, cultural, and visual landscape issues. Landscape planning from regional to watershed to local levels. Emphasis on inventory skills, map reading, data organization, interpretation, and assessment. Broad introduction to design and planning process.

596 Independent Study

Independent course or seminar work under direction of instructor.

597 Special Topics

Offered periodically as needs and conditions permit.

601 Studio V—Site Planning

Introduces design process and understanding a site's context, the cultural and legal framework, and the natural site features in order to assess development potential and prepare appropriate design proposals for housing represented using digital technologies.

603 Studio VI—The Garden

The garden as the most personal, direct, and intimate expression of landscape architecture, as a contemporary art primarily through discussions of important works and design theory in the genre. Emphasis on developing an informed and creative personal approach which inspires while solving practical problems on real sites.

604 Studio VII—Urban Design

Application of urban design theories as they apply to various scales of urban design, with special attention focused on civic scale design elements and organization of spatial and functional requirements.

606 Studio VIII—Cultural Landscapes

Introduces students to the process of research, planning, design, and management of historically and culturally significant landscapes through selected real-world site projects.

607 Studio IX—Landscape Planning

Emphasis on advanced methods of preparing landscape suitability assessments, program development, and planning and design solutions with the aim of optimizing suitabilities and needs within open-space and greenway settings.

609 Studio X—Historic Preservation and Design

Landscape design proposals for sites within historically significant areas. Emphasis on methods of analysis and design development. Focus on architectural and garden design principles of specific periods. Graphic and photographic documentation of existing built forms serve as the basis for design proposals.

613 Construction I: Site Engineering

Site engineering problems related to general design including construction processes, alignment geometry, grading, drainage systems, earthwork, and detailing. Emphasis on construction document preparation.

614 Construction II: Site Structures

Design of site structures and required details focusing on stability, durability, and environmental compatibility. Emphasis on statics and strength of materials of site structures. Includes sizing of water retention and detention structures.

651 Professional Practice

Models of professional office structure, including management, organization, and economics for private, public, and academic practice. Covers ethics, compensation, contracts, specifications, and business plan preparation.

691 Advanced Computer Applications in Landscape Architecture

Current developments in micro-computer hardware and software. Focus on future site design methods: the collection and analysis of site data, illustration of design alternatives, and calculation of engineering requirements.

691E People and the Environment

Interdisciplinary seminar on the applications of environmental psychology research to planning and design. Topics include landscape preference, territoriality and defensible space, way finding, and restorative settings/therapeutic gardens. Mr. Ryan

691F Research Methods in Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning

Survey of research issues and methods in landscape architecture and planning. Designed to assist students preparing their research for master's thesis and projects. Mr. Ryan

692 Planting Design

Continuing study of ornamental plants; ecological, functional and aesthetic characteristics and uses.

696 Independent Study

698A-Z Master's Project

Allows a student to work on an actual or demonstration project to explore aspects of landscape planning, design or processes related to landscape architecture. Credit, 6.

699 Thesis

Preparation of a research thesis in an emerging or state-of-the-art area of landscape architecture. Credit, 6.

Regional Planning

553 Resource Policy and Planning

Examination of natural resource policy formation and the planning process at the local, state, and regional levels; the role of Congress, the bureaucracy, and citizens' interest in policy formation; the interplay among forces of economics, technology, ecology, and design in the determination of policy goals and planning horizons.

558 Issues in Environmental Management

Alternative administrative arrangements for dealing with problems of environmental management and control at various levels of government.

575 Planning Law and Resource Management

Concepts of nuisance, police power, zoning, eminent domain and growth management. Application of these to management of environmental resources, including riverine, coastal, and wetland areas. Includes introduction to legal research. Consent of instructor required.

577 Urban Policies

Social, cultural, political, and economic analyses of urban policies and practices. Various disciplinary approaches used for critiquing and developing appropriate policies, including urban planning, anthropology, geography, political science, media studies, sociology, and economics. Includes service learning component.

591B Sustainable Communities

What a sustainable community, that achieves greater ecology, equity, and economy than typical current practices, would look like. The current best practices for the built environment, and the social structures and policies that interact with it, to achieve greater sustainability. Focus on the local community but with reference to national and global issues. Open to students from many disciplines who are interested in green urbanism and green ruralism.

625 Quantitative Methods in Planning

Application of quantitative methods used by regional and urban planners. Problem definition and data sources, data collection and analysis using descriptive and inferential statistics, and spreadsheet and database planning software. Data presentation techniques. Prerequisite: STATISTC 501 or equivalent.

643 Economic and Social Planning Analysis

General introduction to methods and techniques for analyzing and solving problems related to planning, resource allocation, and policy analysis.

645 Growth Management

The role of policy in guiding land use. Examination of smart-growth principles and practices. Regional land use design. Prerequisite: REGIONPL 651 or consent of instructor.

651 Planning History and Theory

Planning as a decision-making process, the attributes of the political and administrative environment within which planning takes place, and the implications of this environment for the planning process and the planner.

652 Tools and Techniques in Planning

Practical information, specific tools, regulatory processes, and analytic methods useful in the practice of public sector planning at the local level.

656 Judicial Planning Law

The law of land-use control as expressed in major judicial decisions in the U.S. Creation, expansion and powers of municipal corporations; use of legal planning tools such as zoning, abatement of nuisance, eminent domain, etc.

675 Regional Planning Studio I

The first in a sequence of workshop-type courses, to integrate skills and knowledge from conventional courses and apply them to representative planning problems. Instructional goals: to develop the skills and techniques for collecting, analyzing, synthesizing and presenting spatial and non-spatial data; and to develop a sense of judgement about the comprehensiveness and reliability of the data and its utility for planning decisions. Credit, 4.

681 Regional Planning Studio II

Preparation of urban regional-development plans based upon an interdisciplinary approach to the analysis and evaluation of regional problems and potentials. Credit, 5.

691E Seminar in Geographic Information Systems for Planning and Design

The design and use of computerized geographic information systems for land planning and design decisions.

691F Research Methods in Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning

Survey of research issues and methods in landscape architecture and planning. Designed to assist students preparing their research for master's theses and projects. Mr. Ryan

691H Seminar in Housing Policy

Critical analyses of political, sociocultural, and economic aspects of housing policies at local, state, and federal levels. Issues of housing discrimination.

691M Seminar in Industrial Development Planning

The impact of industrial development upon communities. Topics range from brown-field revitalization to industrial park development, cluster development, workforce development, and the industrial land crisis.

691S Policy Planning and Anthropology

A joint planning/anthropology seminar focusing on the intersection of planning and anthropology theory and practice as they affect policy planning. Students work together on a project with a local community.

692D Seminar in Advanced Planning Analysis

Advanced analytic methods and techniques used in social science research and policy analysis. Potential topics: location theory and models of spatial interaction, environmental/ecological simulation models and mathematical programming and its application to land resource allocation. Guest lecturers with experience in one or more of the areas under investigation.

692L Seminar in Current Literature in Planning

Examination of the "great books" of planning. Students read ten books selected by the faculty and discuss their importance to planning as it functions today.

692M Seminar in State and Local Public Finance Planning

Overview of the principles, practices, and institutions of state and local public finance. Emphasis on application of theory and methods to policy problems and options facing states and their municipalities.

693G Seminar in Spatial Analysis

Analytical techniques to understand the spatial dynamics of urban and metropolitan regions.

693P Current Issues in Physical Planning

Introduction to contemporary issues in urban land use and physical planning, providing a critical context for understanding urban development and the built environment.

693S Planning for Multiple Publics

Explores the social, cultural, and political underpinnings and implications of planning practice and theory. Focus on appropriate planning for different social groups and the relation of planning and policy to social change and research methodologies.

698A Practicum/Master's Projects

Credit, 1-6.

699 Master's Thesis

Credit, 6-8.

891 Seminar

Credit, 1-3.

892D Ph.D. Workshop

An opportunity for Regional Planning doctoral students to present work in progress, discuss program and academic issues, share ideas, and interact with faculty. May be taken for credit only once, although attendance is encouraged throughout the student's matriculation. Admission for non-Regional Planning doctoral students by consent of instructor only.

899 Doctoral Dissertation

Credit, 18.