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 sustainability principles and inventory skills, map reading, data organization, interpretation, and assessment.

591F Green Urbanism
Interdisciplinary examination of current theories of urbanism focused on landscapes and sustainability. Includes review of international case studies at multiple scales.

596 Independent Study
Independent course or seminar work under direction of instructor.

597 Special Topics
Offered periodically as needs and conditions permit.

597A Computers in Landscape Architecture
Introduces students to digital tools and techniques being used in the profession: CAD, 3D modeling, image editing, animation, web design. Provides a clear framework for understanding digital data that is critical to future design practice.

597O Design Drawing
Introduces students to fundamental graphic communication skills used by landscape architects to conceive, develop, and present their design ideas.

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.

691F Research Issues 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.

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, 8.

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.

574 Introduction to City Planning
The contexts within which design, development, decision making, and deliberation of community plans take place. Topics include land-use regulation; environmental management; infrastructure, housing, and social services; current challenges; future trends and opportunities.

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, which achieves greater ecology, equity, and economy than typical current practices, could 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.

591F Green Urbanism
Interdisciplinary examination of current theories of urbanism focused on landscapes and sustainability. Includes review of international case studies at multiple scales.

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 Development Issues in Planning
The contemporary theory and practice of economic development in the U.S. Provides the requisite background to undertake a critical evaluation of economic development strategies. The contemporary practice, history, and politics of economic development; prevailing theories of regional development; and specific state and local development strategies.

645 Growth Management
The role of policy in guiding land use. Examination of smart-growth principles and practices. Regional land use design and state-level policy as well as international comparisons included.

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. Admission for non-majors by consent of instructor.

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 Issues 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.

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.

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 in Advanced Planning Theory
Examination of foundational and emerging texts in planning and social theory as well as topics currently under debate among planning theory scholars. Advanced regional planning master’s students may request admission from instructor, as may doctoral students from related fields. Prerequisite: REGIONPL 651 or consent of instructor.

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.

899 Doctoral Dissertation
Credit, 18.