New Courses
Summer 2012
USP 386 Portland Past and Present: Shaping the City (4)
Professor: Chet Orloff
Portland Past and Present is a one-term survey course (and a Community Studies cluster class) about Portland, from its deep past to the planned future. The goal of the class is to develop a sense of time and place for Portland through the study of its natural setting, history, architecture, arts, politics, economy, and culture. The course will commence with the geologic foundations of Portland and conclude with the city’s visions for itself in the 21st century. Particular attention will be paid to the shaping of Portland as a regional city, examining the evolving cityscape, planning, architecture and urban design, governance, the economy, and transportation. Flyer.
USP 399 International Relief and Development (4)
Professor: Richard White
This course is for students who want to explore the principles, practices, and dilemmas at the intersection of Relief & Development.
An overview of fundamental concepts, principles and tools essential for effective emergency humanitarian relief interventions; and explores the relationship between international relief and development practice. The course will explore the history and development of international aid directed toward economic and social development. It will further explore some aspects of the important connections between humanitarian relief practice and international sustainable community development practice. This course contributes to students’ understanding of the global dimensions of community development theory and practice, as well as the knowledge, skill, and experience necessary for effective engagement. Flyer.
USP 410/510 Going Local: Economic Development and Place Distinctiveness (4)
Professor: Charles Heying
This course explores the importance of place distinctiveness and self-reliance in the economic development of cities and regions. We look beyond the usual high tech, amenity and incentive strategies that are typical economic development strategies to grass roots alternatives that grow from a particular place. We examine the relevance of these spaces of resistance to what is assumed is the inevitable globalization of economic activity. Topics include self-reliant and artisan economies, economic gardening, locavesting, slow growth models and small scale manufacturing.
UNST 421 Senior Capstone: Museum of the City (6)
Professor: Chet Orloff
The Museum of the City is a PSU-based virtual museum of cities, an international, web-based platform for presenting exhibits about civilization’s oldest and most-creative invention, the city.
The Museum’s vision is to broaden people's knowledge of cities where, today, more than half the world’s people live and where the solutions to the world’s greatest challenges will be found.
With the involvement of PSU students, the Museum is creating a robust, content and student-driven electronic venue displaying informative and compelling material on the past, present, and future—the sustainability—of cities. Exhibits explore the dynamics of governance, eco-nomic and social life, engineering and transportation, architecture, art and culture, planning, history, and how such fields can contribute to sustaining the city, our own and others’. Flyer.
UNST 563 Real Estate Construction (3)
Professor: Vernon Rifer
Always wondered how buildings actually get constructed? Learn how high rise office buildings and low rise dog houses are developed, designed and built.
Leading Portland developers, architects, contractors and city officials lecture and provide tours of their projects. Learn how owners, developers and architects dreams turn into an architectural design, a construction loan, a contract, a permit, and then a building. Why is one high rise built of steel and others concrete or wood frame? How do contractors and subcontractors manage their work and get paid? Flyer.
USP 586 Urban Social Networks (3)
Professor: Charles Heying
Social networks are a phenomenon of urban life, from strong ties of social support networks to the weak ties of social leverage networks. Social network analysis is used to understand everything from the power networks of elite leaders, to communication and transportation flows, to relational networks that influence health outcomes. This course introduces concepts, applications, and methods of social network analysis in a way that is exploratory, low key and fun. We will use small sample databases to learn UCINET software functions and understand their applications. Students can use this opportunity understand a social network relational view of the world or to see if social network analysis is something they might use in their research.
Fall 2012
USP 410/510 Historic Preservation: Sustainable Urban Development, The Case of Old Havana (10 units total)
Info session April 19th at 12:00 PM, East Hall 219
International field experience: Cuba
- 10 credit program (3 courses – all required) / Fall Term 2012
- On Campus Dates: 2nd 5 weeks of the Fall 2012 Term
- Cuba Travel Dates: December 9 – 23, 2012
These courses will provide students the opportunity to study historic preservation and sustainable urban development in Cuba. The focus will be on the Office of the Historian, Old Havana that developed Habaguanex, a private, non-profit entity (994) whose mission is to restore historic buildings. Habaguanex, the private party’s role is to develop sustainable tourism in Old Havana with social benefits to former residents. Students will engage with the various stakeholders of this development to determine if the Office of the Historian/Habaguanex is a socially sustainable development model. The other Cuban partner will be the San Geronimo campus of the University of Havana School of Urban Development and Historic Preservation. The Antonio Nunez y Jimenez foundation for environment and sustainable development will provide a community service component with visits to urban organic farms and work session on an organic farm in Pinar del Rio province.
Students will also study Afro-Cuban Creole spirituality, the history and culture of resistance, and interact with contemporary expressions of popular spiritual belief. Spiritual and cultural sites in Havana will serve as a medium through which to explore the history of Cuba and the African Diaspora. Reflection upon the travel experience itself as a form of spiritual journey will connect life in Portland with life in Havana.
USP 510 Socio-Technical Change in the City (3)
Professor: Thad Miller
At the center of many of the world’s critical sustainability challenges lie large-scale technological systems that both shape and are shaped by human goals and objectives. In an increasingly urbanized world, how societies choose to build, maintain and reform the socio-technological systems that comprise our cities will play a pivotal role in our ability to transition toward sustainability. This course will analyze cities as sociotechnical systems—complex, coupled systems that link social actors, their relationships, behaviors, institutions and values to the built and natural environment and other technologies at various scales—and explore the challenges to navigating these systems along more sustainable trajectories.
This course is relevant for students interested in urban sustainability and social change from multiple disciplines including urban studies and planning, sociology, political science, anthropology, engineering, systems science and environmental science. Students will produce a publishable paper or part of their dissertation proposal. Flyer.
USP 611 America’s Changing Neighborhoods (3)
Professor: Carl Abbott
This course traces the public and private decisions that have shaped the residential environment American cities. It examines the tensions among market-based development, community action, and public intervention. Topics range in scale from housing style choices to aggregate trends in metropolitan form and cover a wide range of actors including individual households, private builders and developers, reformers, nonprofit organizations, and governments.
USP 624 Development Project Design (3)
Professor: Eric Ridenour
Provides an understanding of architectural practice, the value added by design, the intersection of design with broader community concerns and developer’s objectives, and the management of the design process, including tools for decision analysis in all phases of the building design process. Case studies of the major building types will be presented. Expected preparation: USP 523.
Upcoming (not yet scheduled)
USP 513 Intro to Landscape Architecture (3)
An introduction to the history, theory and methods of landscape architecture. Course materials to include key readings from the field, case studies, and hands-on exposure to the thought processes underlying the work of landscape architects.
USP 625 Green Buildings II (3)
Applies green building concepts to advanced real estate problems, including the rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of existing real estate properties. Properties being covered include retail, office, hotel, industrial, and residential properties. The class will examine techniques for increasing density, recycling materials, improving energy efficiency, and creating healthy work and living environments. The course will look at property management and portfolio management from a green building perspective. Prerequisite: USP 529 Green Buildings I.
