Today was an informal orientation led by Stan Allen for new graduate students. Although it was informative, I doubt much of what was discussed is relevent here. He gave some admissions numbers and it drove home how small the school really is, a big change for me coming from Michigan.

I also met with Stan Allen to discuss which classes I place out of and which ones I should take this semester. Nothing is set yet but the ones I'm looking at (besides studio) are:

ARC 537
Theories of Self-Organization and the Dynamics of Cities
Maximum Enrollment: 20
Professor(s): Manuel J. DeLanda

Description/Objectives:
Cities are among the most complex entities that arise, either bureaucratically or spontaneously, out of human activity. But even those cities in which urban structure was the result of a deliberate act of planning house many processes which represent the spontaneous emergence of order out of chaos. This seminar will examine a variety of these processes, from markets to symbiotic nets of small producers, from epidemics of urban diseases to the creation of new languages and urban dialects. It will also explore the interaction between these self-organized phenomena and centrally controlled processes which are the result of human planning.

ARC 548
Histories and Theories of Architecture: 18th and 19th Centuries
Maximum Enrollment: 20
Professor(s): Edward A. Eigen

Description/Objectives:
Acquaints students with the best that has been known and built between the years 1690 and 1870 and focuses on a series of designs and/or buildings in relation to distinct cultural and critical contexts. "Best" is defined by the ability to sustain historical and theoretical debate and to enact conceptual migrations across diverse fields of inquiry. Emphasizes the role of architecture in new institutional forms and the reconfiguration of urban, industrial, and pastoral landscapes. The emergence of historicism as an organizing theme prompts a self-critical attempt to undo the narrative continuities of the traditional architecture survey course.

ARC 552
The Architecture of Psychoanalysis:Topography, Creativity, Form
Maximum Enrollment: 20
Professor(s): Spyridon Papapetros

Description/Objectives:
An examination of the syntactical similarities between architecture and psychoanalysis related to spatial structures common to both practices. The seminar has three parts: 1. Issues of psychic topography as mapped in Freud's metapsychological works, with an emphasis on projection introjection and displacement. 2. Theories of reparation and sublimation as ostensible factors of artistic creativity through specific case-studies of artists, architects and architectural historians. 3. Psychoanalytic approaches to form, in particular, mimicry and camouflage, as well as, theories of psychological morphology proposed by the surrealists.

ARC 562
Introduction to the Architecture Profession
Maximum Enrollment: 20
Professor(s): J. R. Hillier

Description/Objectives:
The carrying out of architectural services goes beyond design and involves an obligation to the public, to clients, to peers and employees. This course deals with the contracts, specifications, technical documentation, project management and construction administration phases of the architectural services.

I will most likely only take 3 classes besides studio so I need to cut one of these out. I plan to go to the first class of each and test the waters. I'll keep you informed.