After a lengthy Christmas break, I am happy (and apprehensive) about my final semester at Yale. Although putting the final touches on my thesis will keep me occupied this semester, there is a lot more on my plate than usual. For starters, I have two articles to work on, as well as some last-minute research visits to Washington D.C. and (if the stars align) Utah. Along with the rest of the second-year MED students, we are not only putting the final touches on a symposium to be held in late March, but we are also "curating" a class within the School of Architecture. As part of our program, we are entrusted with organizing a class called "Contemporary Architecture Discourse Colloquium." We select a topic, invite speakers, organize readings ... all the trappings of a class. This year, our class is called Critical Imaginaries -- it is a seminar concerning the ways in which different media offer alternative and viable avenues of criticism. We look at discursive pathways that confront issues of architecture and urbanism in unique and salient ways. Examples of these "pathways" include gaming, anime, comic books, music ... aaaand, we have a guest speaker line up to kill for. We have invited the following to participate in our little class in the upcoming months: Dietrich Neumann, Ben Nicholson, DJ Spooky, Reinhold Martin, Jonathan Crary, Kevin Slavin, Ed Dimendberg, Sylvere Lotringer, Lebbeus Woods, Barry Bergdoll, Karen Nakamura and others. Some are confirmed, and although it is entirely possible that there may be some modifications to the schedule, we are incredibly lucky to have these distinguished guests partcipate and take our topic and our class seriously. I will keep you updated throughout the semester as the colloquium unfolds and things get official.
5 Comments
best o' luck on your last semester, sounds like you have a lot to cram into a few months.
q
Jeesh... Your topic is huge & list of speakers diverse and impressive - are you going to try creating some kind of coherent structure around the quest-speakers, or are they just going to "do their thing"? could be fine either way. And the whole thing just sounds exciting as a thing to do.
you should send me a pdf of your progress, Smokety... I'd love to read it. Are you up to the point of finishing touches?? You're way ahead then.
Helsinki ... huge indeed. We are articulating a structure, and we have contacted the guests about their particular lectures. In fact, the syllabus will be finished shortly. I will post as this stuff develops.
wicked.
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