Landscape Studies- related courses at Smith
2018-2019
Landscape Studies
100: Lecture series: Alternative Facts and New Realities
105: Introduction to Landscape Studies
110: (interterm): Interpreting the New England Landscape
230: Power, Place, Politics and People: The Contested Urban Landscape
240: Cultural Landscapes and Historic Preservation
245: Place Frames: Photography as Research Method in Landscape Studies
250: Studio: Landscape and Narrative
255: Studio: Art and Ecology
260: Visual storytelling: Graphics, Data and Design
300: Re-thinking Landscape
389: Studio: Broad-scale Design and Planning
FYS 151: A River Runs Through Us
*See Architecture for other courses cross-listed in LSS
** PLEASE CHECK WITH YOUR LSS ADVISOR BEFORE CHOOSING THE FOLLOWING COURSES TO COMPLETE YOUR LSS MINOR. Some topics may have changed and may not count toward the minor.
Anthropology
224 Anthropos in the Anthropocene: Human-environment relations in a time of ecological crisis
229 Africa and the environment
233 History of anthropological theory
252 City and countryside in China
317 Anthropology of landscape: Space, place, nature
352 Seminar: Topics in anthropology (Fernando Armstrong-Fumero)
Architecture
ARS 280 Introduction to architectural design Studio: Ground
ARS 281 Introduction to architectural design Studio:Digital Design processes: Air
ARS 380 Architectural design studio: Transient spaces—Terrestrial bodies
ARS 381 Architectural design studio: Transient spaces—Aquatic bodies
Archives Concentration, depending on topic
Art History
101 Approaches to visual representation
212 Ancient Cities and Sanctuaries
285 Great Cities (Pompeii) (Rome) (London)
280 Landscapes of the modern Caribbean
290 The colonial city: Global perspectives
Studio Art
161 Design workshop 1
162 introduction to digital media
163 drawing 1
164 drawing 2
188 Images of architecture: What if we build?
264 drawing 2
266 painting 1
390 5 College advanced studio seminar
Biological Sciences
101, Modern biology for the concern citizen
103 Economic botany: Plants and human affairs
120 plants in the landscape
122 horticulture (123 lab)
130 Biodiversity, ecology and conservation (131 lab)
202 cell biology
204 microbiology (205 lab)
206 Plant physiology (207 lab)
264 Plant diversity and evolution (265 lab)
268 Marine ecology (269 lab)
355 Ecophysiology (356 lab)
364 Plant ecology (365, plant ecology lab)
366 Biogeography
Comparative Literature
200 Islands, real and imaginary
242 What and where is Main Street?
253 Literary Ecology
288 Bitter Homes and Gardens
Dance
252 Intermediate Dance Composition
151 Elementary Dance Composition
553 Choreography and Design
241 Scientific Foundations of Dance
East Asian Studies
216 Gangnam style: Seoul and its layered histories
Economics
271 Economics of climate change
224 Environmental economics
324 Economics of the environment and natural resources
Education
390 Teaching of science, engineering and technology
Engineering
100 Engineering for everyone
315 Ecohydrology
English
118, Water: Science and politics
238 What Jane Austen read
245 Worldbuilding: Topics in reading and writing creative fiction
382 Readings in American literature
Environmental Science and Policy
100, Environment and sustainability: Notes from the field
101 Sustainability and social-ecological systems
150 Mapping our world: Introduction to geographic information systems
201 Researching environmental problems
220 Natural resource management and environmental justice
311 Interpreting and communicating environmental information
266 Landscapes of Northern Germany: Natural environments and human influences
323 climate and energy policy
FYS (First Year Seminars)
103 Geology in the field
122 Eden and other gardens
141 Reading, writing, and placemaking: Landscape studies
163 Exploring our national parks
178 Energy, environment, and climate change
French Studies
230 Dream Places and Nightmare Spaces
Geosciences
101 Introduction to earth processes and history
102 Exploring the local geologic landscape
103Geology in thefield
104 Global climate change
105 Natural disasters: The science behind the headlines
106 Extraordinary events in the history of earth, life and climate
251 Geomorphology, the study of landforms and processes
German Studies
298 In Hamburg: Culture, society, environment;
310 The Academy and the environment
Government
204 Urban politics
249 International human rights
254 Politics of the global environment
305 Seminar: Strange bedfellows: State power and regulation of the family
306 Politics and the environment
347 Environmental security
Jewish Studies
229 Judaism and environmentalism
Latin American Studies
201 Landscapes of work, wealth, and power: The economic geography of Latin America
301 Favelas in Brazil: The commodification of places of protest
Mathematics
107 Statistical thinking
220 introduction to probability and statistics
Philosophy
238 Environmental ethics
304 Sustainability
Portuguese
220 Contemporary cityscapes: mapping Brazilian culture onto an urban grid
Psychology
268 The human side of climate change
Sociology
233 Environment and society
333 Social justice, the environment and the corporation
Statistical and data sciences
201 statistical methods for undergraduates
107 Statistical thinking
136 Communicating with data
Theatre
100 Art of theatre design
Women and Gender
230 Gender, land and food movements
Courses
Listed below are the current offerings in landscape studies and cross-listed programs. For courses that may count toward the Landscape studies minor, visit Related Courses page.
LSS 100 Landscape, Design, and the Environment
Through readings and a series of lectures by Smith faculty and guests, we will examine the history and influences out of which Landscape studies is emerging. We will look at the relationship of this new field with literary and cultural studies, art, art history, landscape architecture, history, biology and environmental sciences. What is landscape studies? Where does it come from? Why is it important? How does it relate to, for instance, landscape painting and city planning? How does it link political and aesthetic agendas? What is its role in current sustainability debates and initiatives among architects, landscape architects, planners and engineers?
Students may take this course twice for credit. S/U only.
(E) {H/S/A}
2 credits
Ann Leone and Reid Bertone-Johnson, Co-Directors
Offered Spring 2019
LSS 105 Introduction to Landscape Studies
. This introductory course explores the evolving and interdisciplinary field of landscape studies. Drawing upon a diverse array of disciplinary influences in the social sciences, humanities, and design fields, landscape studies is concerned with the complex and multi-faceted relationship between human beings and the physical environment. Students in this course learn to critically analyze a wide variety of landscape types from the scale of a small garden to an entire region, as well as to practice different methods of landscape investigation. It is a course designed to change the way one sees the world, providing a fresh look at everyday and extraordinary places alike. Priority given to first years, sophomores, and LSS minors.
Enrollment limited to 30
{H/S/A}
4 credits
Reid Bertone-Johnson
Offered Fall 2018
LSS 200 Socialized Landscapes: Private Squalor and Public Affluence
Certain landscapes dissolve economic, political, social, cultural constructs to foster diversity on common ground. This course will trace the development of these socialized landscapes, specifically in Europe and North America in the last two centuries, as places of reform, respite, and refuge. Focusing on a series of case studies we will characterize what makes a place a socialized landscape, identify how it improves its community, and consider how a dysfunctional space might be transformed into a socialized landscape. This discussion-based course will have a practical component insofar as we will propose ways of socializing a real site for a client. Prerequisite: LSS 105 or permission of the instructor.
Enrollment limited to 20
{H/S/A}
4 credits
Not offered 2018-2019
LSS 210 Suburbia: The Middle Landscape
This course will explore suburbia as its own landscape and as a borderland between countryside and city. From the nineteenth-century town-planning initiatives in England to today’s sprawl in America, we will consider such communities as Port Sunlight near Liverpool, England; Shaker Heights, Ohio; Levittown, New York; Columbia, Maryland; and Celebration, Florida. Readings on culture, politics, economics, and regional planning will highlight some of the contradictions that plague the conception, development, and future of suburbia, most notably transportation/isolation, homogeneity/inclusion, safety/security, historicism/utopianism, biophilia/biophobia, conformity/comfort, and capitalism/pastoral aesthetic. Prerequisite: LSS 105 or permission of the instructor.
Enrollment limited to 20
(E) {H/S/A}
4 credits
TBD
Not Offered 2018-2019
LSS 220 Activism by Design
Landscapes have been settled, conquered, threatened, and reclaimed throughout world history. How have indigenous people overcome such devastation as colonialism, industrialism, poverty, and climate change to boast pilot programs in landscape architecture, conservation, and agriculture? Case studies of resilience and ingenuity include the botanic gardens in the West Indies, national parks in Costa Rica, agritourism in Tuscany, sustainable design in the Northwest Territories, and open space in Oakland, California. Can comprehensive analysis of these individual solutions offer glocal templates? Prerequisites: LSS 100 or LSS 105 or by permission of the instructor.
Enrollment limited to 20
{E} {H/S/A}
4 credits
Not offered 2018-2019
LSS 230 Power, Place, Politics, and People: The Contested Urban Landscape
Students in this course investigate the production of the built environment and the landscape of cities, focusing on key actors such as neighborhood activists, real estate developers, city officials, and environmentalists, among other advocates and interested parties. Organized thematically and supplemented by readings in urban theory and related fields, the course tackles questions of how urban places are made, why different cities look and feel the way they do, and who shapes the city. Prerequisite: LSS 100 or LSS 105 or by permission of the instructor.
Enrollment limited to 20
{E}{H/S/A}
4 credits
Steven Moga
Offered Fall 2018
LSS 240 Cultural Landscapes and Historic Preservation
Debates over the meaning, interpretation, and management of unique, artistic, historic, and/or culturally significant places will take center stage in this course. Students will consider how and why some landscapes and buildings get preserved and protected while others are redesigned, ignored, neglected, or demolished. Major themes in the course include continuity and change in the built environment, notions of cultural heritage, and the concept of authenticity. Readings include theoretical and historical perspectives on the topic supplemented by case studies and field investigations. Prerequisites: LSS 100 or LSS 105 or by permission of the instructor.
Enrollment limited to 20
{H/S/A}
4 credits
Steven Moga
Not offered 2018-2019
LSS 245 Place Frames: Photography as Research Method in Landscape Studies
Photography and landscape are interwined. Scholars, design professionals, artists, and journalists use photographs as evidence, as a means of representing sites, as a design tool, as source material for project renderings, and as a device for documentation and record keeping. This course focuses on how phtography is a part of field observations and research techniques, how photographs are used in landscape studies, and how text and image are combined in different photographic and scholarly genres. Students will take their own photographs and examine the works of photographers, including landscape architects, urbanists, artists, and journalists. The course will include field exercises in combination with workshops, discussions, and research at the Smith College Museum of Art. Major themes include cultural landscapes, topography and land forms, transportation, sense of place, aerial and satellite photography, suburbia, patterns on the land, abandonment and decay, and the image of the city. Prerequisites: LSS 100 or LSS 105 or by permission of the instructor.
Enrollment limited to 15
{A/S}
4 credits
Steven Moga
Offered Spring 2018
LSS 250 Studio: Landscape and Narrative
This studio asks students to consider the landscape as a location of evolving cultural and ecological patterns, processes and histories. Beginning with readings and discussions students work through a series of projects that engage with the narrative potential of landscape and critically consider the environment as socially and culturally constructed. A variety of media are used in the design process including drawing, model-making, collage and photography. Priority given to LSS minors and ARCH majors.
Note: LSS 250 will fulfill the Introduction to Architecture studios requirement for Path C (Architecture) of the Art major at Smith College.
Enrollment limited to 14
{A/S}
4 credits
Reid Bertone-Johnson
Offered Spring 2019
LSS 255 Art & Ecology
Environmental designers are in the unique and challenging position of bridging the science of ecology and the art of place-making. This studio emphasizes the dual necessity for solutions to ecological problems that are artfully designed and artistic expressions that reveal ecological processes. Beginning with readings, precedent studies and in-depth site analysis, students will design a series of projects that explore the potential for melding art and ecology.
Note: LSS 255 will fulfill the Introduction to Architecture studios requirement for Path C (Architecture) of the Art major at Smith College.
Enrollment limited to 14
{A/S}
4 credits
Reid Bertone-Johnson
Not offered 2018-2019
LSS 256 Studio: Design for Social Sustainability: Our Place in the Public Realm
More than ever we are faced with the need to make good sense of the public realm from the human perspective. How formal and informal landscapes can encourage or discourage use applies to a variety of places: urban wildlands to neighborhood mini-parks, high-style urban squares to one-day parking space plazas, community centers to third spaces, upscale shopping malls to ad hoc night markets, suburban neighborhoods to downtown artist lofts. In an increasingly "glocal" world, this applies to all kinds of people. With a growing and increasingly diverse population, we have the challenge of balancing complex social and environmental needs. In the LSS 256 studio we will remix the venerable traditions of social factors methodology with designs for daily life activities and the spaces that contain them.
4 credits
Not offered 2018-2019
LSS 260 Visual Storytelling: Graphics, Data, and Design
This course is an introduction to graphic communication, the visual representation of ideas and information, for students of diverse backgrounds such as Art, Architecture, American Studies, Computer Science, Economics, Engineering, Environmental Science and Policy, Government, and Sociology. The course will include lectures, readings and exercises on graphic design, typography, layout, information graphics, data visualization, and portfolio design. Students will be exposed to graphic design software (Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign) through exercises that will build the skills necessary to complete a design portfolio, or an equivalent independent final project showcasing a cohesive visual argument. For students interested in visual communication, data visualization, graphics, and portfolio design. Priority given to LSS minors and ARCH majors. Pending CAP approval.
Enrollment limited to 14
{A}
4 credits
Reid Bertone-Johnson
Offered Fall 2018
LSS 288/CLT 288 Bitter Homes and Gardens: Domestic Space and Domestic Discord in Three Modern Women Novelists
The work of certain writers--often women and often Wharton,
von Arnim, and Colette--is categorized as small in scope, narrowly
focused, and therefore marginal in some ways. Here are questions, based
in part on readings in landscape and domestic design theory, that we can
ask to help us see their work differently: When and how is it
appropriate to juxtapose writers' biographies on their fiction? How do
they represent domestic discord--loss, rage, depression--in their
fiction? In particular, how do local landscapes and other domestic
spaces--houses, rooms, gardens--figure in this representation? Texts
will include novels, short stories, correspondence, excerpts from
journals, and other autobiographical writing: Pre-requisite: one other
literature course at any level, or permission of the instructor.
{L}
4 credits
Ann Leone
Not offered 2018-2019
LSS 300 Rethinking Landscape
This capstone course in the study of the built environment brings history and theory alive for those students with interests in diverse fields such as art, architecture, American studies, engineering, and the natural sciences. Designed as an advanced-level seminar, it explores key concepts and theoretical debates that have shaped the interdisciplinary field of landscape studies. In particular, students will investigate how the field has changed over time and critically consider where it is likely to go in the future. Classic texts from thinkers such as J.B. Jackson, Yi-Fu Tuan, John Stilgoe, Anne Spirn, and Dolores Hayden will be paired with contemporary critiques and new approaches to the study of space and place. Independent research work and participation in class discussion are strongly emphasized. Prerequisite: one 200 level course in LSS or permission of the instructor. Priority given to LSS minors, and seniors and juniors.
Enrollment limited to 12
{H/S/A}
4 credits
Steven Moga
Offered Spring 2019
LSS/ARS 389 Broad-Scale Design & Planning Studio
This class is intended for students who have taken introductory landscape studios and are interested in exploring more sophisticated projects. It is also for Architecture + Urbanism majors who have a strong interest in landscape architecture or urban design. In a design studio format, the students will analyze and propose interventions for the built environment on a broad scale, considering multiple factors (including ecological, economic, political, sociological, and historical) in their engagement of the site. The majority of the semester will be spent working on one complex project. Students will use digital tools as well as traditional design media and physical model building within a liberal arts based conceptual studio that encourages extensive research and in depth theoretic inquiry. Prerequisites: At least two of the following: ARS283, LSS250, ARS285, LSS255 or equivalent AND at least one of the following: ARH105, LSS100, LSS105, or equivalent AND permission of the instructor. Priority given to LSS minors and ARCH majors.
Note: ARS/LSS 389 will fulfill the ARS 388 advanced studio requirement for Path C (Architecture) of the Art major at Smith College.
Enrollment limited to 14
{A} {Q}
4 credits
Reid Bertone-Johnson
Offered Spring 2019
LSS 400 Special Studies
Admission by permission of the instructor and director, normally for senior minors. Advanced study and research in Landscape Studies related fields. May be taken in conjunction with LSS 300 or as an extension of design work begun during or after a landscape studies or architecture studio.
1-4 credits
Ann Leone, Reid Bertone-Johnson and Steven Moga
Offered both semesters each year
Cross-Listed Courses
ARS 283 Introduction to Architecture: Site and Space
The primary goal of this studio is to engage in the architectural design process as a mode of discovery and investigation. Design is a process of discovery based on personal experience, the joy of exploration, and a spirited intuition. Gaining skills in graphic communication and model making, students will produce projects to illustrate their ideas and observations in response to challenging questions about the art and craft of space-making. Overall, this course will ask students to take risks intellectually and creatively, fostering a keener sensitivity to the built environment as something considered, manipulated, and made. Prerequisite: one college level art history, architectural history, landscape studies, or architectural design studio course. Note: LSS 250 can substitute for ARS 283 in the Plan C studio art major. A required fee of $75.00 to cover group supplied materials and/or printing will be charged at the time of registration. Students will be responsible for directly purchasing any additional supplies that may be required.
Enrollment limited to 24
{A}
4 credits
Offered Fall 2018
ARS 285 Introduction to Architecture: Language and Craft
The primary goal of this studio is to gain insight into the representation of architectural space and form as a crafted place or object. Students will gain skills in graphic communication and model making, working in multiple media including digital modeling. We will look at the architecture of the past and present for guidance and imagine the future through conceptual models and drawings. Overall, this course will ask students to take risks intellectually and creatively, fostering a keener sensitivity to the built environment as something considered, manipulated, and made. Prerequisite: one college level art history, architectural history, landscape studies, or architectural design studio course. Enrollment limited to 24. Note: LSS 255 can substitute for ARS 285 in the Plan C studio art major. A required fee of $75 to cover group supplied materials and/or printing will be charged at the time of registration. Students will be responsible for directly purchasing any additional supplies that may be required.
{A}
4 credits
Offered Spring 2019
ARS 386 Topics in Architecture
This course will explore a rotating selection of themes in the built environment, with strong emphasis on interdisciplinary work. Topics may include: context, historical factors, urban design and planning, architectural theory and practice, material culture methods, or other themes. Prerequisites: 283, 285, (or equivalent LSS studio) and two art history courses, or permission of the instructor. Enrollment limited to 12. A required fee of $75 to cover group supplied materials and/or printing will be charged at the time of registration. Students will be responsible for directly purchasing any additional supplies that may be required.
{A}
4 credits
Offered Fall 2018
ARS 388 Advanced Architecture: Complex Places, Multiple Spaces
This course considers architecture as a socially constructed place. We will examine how to analyze and intervene within the built environment. A final project, involving the manipulation/examination/interpretation of place and space through modeling and graphic communication or a multi-media research project will be required. Prerequisites: ARS283, 285, and two art history courses, or permission of the instructor. Enrollment limited to 12. A required fee of $75 to cover group supplied materials and/or printing will be charged at the time of registration. Students will be responsible for directly purchasing any additional supplies that may be required.
{A}
4 credits
Offered Spring 2019
LSS 288/CLT 288 Bitter Homes and Gardens: Domestic Space and Domestic Discord in Three Modern Women Novelists
The work of certain writers--often women and often Wharton,
von Arnim, and Colette--is categorized as small in scope, narrowly
focused, and therefore marginal in some ways. Here are questions, based
in part on readings in landscape and domestic design theory, that we can
ask to help us see their work differently: When and how is it
appropriate to juxtapose writers' biographies on their fiction? How do
they represent domestic discord--loss, rage, depression--in their
fiction? In particular, how do local landscapes and other domestic
spaces--houses, rooms, gardens--figure in this representation? Texts
will include novels, short stories, correspondence, excerpts from
journals, and other autobiographical writing: Pre-requisite: one other
literature course at any level, or permission of the instructor.
{L}
4 credits
Ann Leone
Not offered 2018-2019
