Doctoral Program Proseminar

This pro-seminar is one way of fulfilling a requirement for successful completion of the Doctor of Design program. Primarily, it will focus on various thematic areas that range across individual study topics and the methods and skills that might be involved in each area, these will include introduction to: geographic information and methods of spatial analysis, quantitative and related methods of statistical analysis, critical theory and hermeneutic analysis, and ethnographic and qualitative methods in social settings. In addition, various perspectives on aspects of constructed environments will be presented and discussed. These will cover: historical thinking, thinking about technologies, theorizing landscapes, and theorizing urban form. The ubiquitous task of documentation will also be taken up. Each seminar will be of two hours duration and comprised of an introductory or thematic presentation, largely by a guest speaker, including follow-up questions. This will be followed by summary presentations by students of selected readings on each theme, followed by further discussion. Other class assignments will include rendering of a literature review of students’ research topics, as well as a short topical presentation.