Course Syllabus
EnD 3993: Environmental Design Practicum
Environmental Design Program, Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture
🕘Class Hours: Thursdays, 1:00 - 3:50 p.m.
🏢Format: This class will be delivered primarily in-person based on university guidance.
📍Class Location: Gould Hall Gallery
Instructors:
Shane Hampton, Director, Institute for Quality Communities
- shanehampton@ou.edu
- (405) 325-3449
Vanessa Morrison, Associate Director, Institute for Quality Communities
- vanessa@ou.edu
- (405) 325-2434
🏢Office Hours: We are always available for one-on-one meetings for any reason. Stop by Gould Hall 165, or remotely by Zoom. You can schedule by email to make sure one of us will be available.
Welcome!
Welcome!
Thank you for enrolling into the Environmental Design Practicum. We are excited to have you as a student in our class and look forward to learning together.
While injustices continue to heighten in our country, it is now time more than ever that urbanists work to rethink how our professions can contribute to more equitable communities. Our discipline shapes the built environment through practices that have been historically rooted in erasure and inequality. From systemic related issues such as racism, violence, poverty, and more, urbanists design and plan the backdrops in which these tragedies occur. Although we cannot design ourselves out of inequities completely, that doesn’t mean we don’t have a role to play.
Addressing these challenges and being active in justice work first begins with learning how our discipline has contributed to these issues in order to not repeat history. Additionally, this work calls for us to gain a better understanding of how we can combat these issues through creative strategies while unlearning traditional, exclusionary practices to best work within the context of the communities we serve. Lastly, this work requires us to listen and center the voices that have been pushed to the margins while working alongside these communities to ensure our plans and designs are reflective of their priorities.
Urbanists have the incredible duty and privilege to shape the built environment for all. We invite you to lean-in, think creatively, and collaborate with us and your fellow students in order to learn how we can combat inequities through our profession.
Thank you for joining us.
Course Description
How can we react to social problems, equity, justice debates, and contentious politics through environmental design and emergent strategies? How can we unlearn exclusionary, traditional methods while learning creative approaches to include everyone in our work? Can we push the boundaries of our designs, skills, and role in society to contribute to such movements? When and how do we challenge the status quo, and when do we dissent?
This course is a project-based exploration of equity challenges and best practices in community planning topics. This semester, the course is part of a community engagement between the University of Oklahoma Institute for Quality Communities and the Town of Tullahassee. This semester focuses on engaging residents and researching Tullahassee, a historic All-Black Town of Oklahoma, to develop ideas for the community. Students in the course will work on teams to conduct research and engagement, and translate findings into recommendations for the community.
Community Engagement and Service Learning: This course is designated as an OU Service Learning course. Service-Learning is a structured learning experience that combines community service with preparation and reflection. Students engaged in service-learning provide community service in response to community-identified concerns and learn about the context in which service is provided, the connection between their service and their academic coursework, and their roles as citizens. For more information, visit http://ou.edu/communityengagement.
EnD Practicum teams in previous years have also worked on important issues like public life data collection to support infrastructure improvements, retail audits to encourage economic development, and tactical urbanism demonstrations of proposed improvements.
Course Objectives
By the end of this course, the student will be able to:
- Understand how urbanists have contributed to equity issues in regards to policy and the built environment
- Apply creative approaches to promote inclusion through community engagement
- Identify and evaluate conditions of the built environment through research, engagement, fieldwork and documentation.
- Formulate and present valuable recommendations on issues related to community development and the built environment.
Inclusive & Respectful Classroom
The Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture is committed to building an equitable, diverse, inclusive community. The College has compiled a directory of campus-wide resources that support this commitment.
Grading
Grading will be based on the understanding of the course topics as demonstrated in written assignments and presentations. Grades for the course will be determined by these components:
| Assignment | Description | Points |
| Journal Entries |
Respond to journal prompts as assigned during class with short informal essays. |
40 (8 @ 5 points each) |
| Speculative Design Workshop |
Participate in a 2-art facilitated workshop to learn about speculative design processes, and share your work in class. |
10 |
| Community Planning Case Study |
Based on an assigned topic, prepare a narrative case study about a community that solved a challenge. |
10 |
| Memo: Findings on Research and Engagement |
Written summary of key topics found during your group's research and engagement. |
10 |
| Tullahassee Design Workshop |
Participation in a group project to propose solutions for community partners, and presentation of results to community panel. |
25 |
| Peer and Self Evaluation |
Evaluate your own contributions to your group's success and the contributions of your peers. |
5 |
| Total Points |
100 |
Late assignments are subject to a penalty of 25% per class period (or portion thereof). To receive a final grade, the Case Study Final Report will be submitted at the start of the final exam period.
Expectations
The students and instructor will be held to these standards to make the semester meaningful:
- The instructor will challenge students to understand the material in this course, connect students with the resources and information they need, work with students to grow in a skill area, and encourage the highest quality work.
- Students will attend and engage in all classes and trips, be eager consumers of content related to the class project, work respectfully with classmates, and produce work that reflects well on themselves and the university when shared with community partners.
Course Calendar
| # | Date | Description | Prepare Before Class | Assignment Deadline |
| 1 | Jan 28 |
Course Intro
|
||
| 2 | Feb 4 |
Intro to Speculative Design
|
Reading from Richard Rothstein, The Color of Law Ch. 3 Reading from Adrienne Marie Brown, Principles of Emergent Strategy pages 41-50 |
Journal 2 |
| 3 | Feb 11 |
Speculative Design Workshop + Intro to Oklahoma Black Towns
|
Attend Green New Deal Lecture 1 |
Journal 3 |
| 4 | Feb 18 |
Oklahoma Black Towns
|
Reading from Black Towns, Black Futures - Introduction Watch Struggle and Hope Complete Journal 3 |
Journal 4 |
| 5 | Feb 25 |
Planning, Environmental Justice, and Community Engagement
|
Readings: BlackSpace Manifesto |
Journal 4 Journal 5 (In Class) |
| 6 | Mar 4 |
Getting to Know Tullahassee
|
Reading
|
Journal 5 |
| 7 | Mar 11 |
Theme Development
|
|
|
| 8 | Mar 18 |
Case Study Workshop Day
|
|
|
| 9 | Mar 25 |
Developing Themes
|
|
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| 10 | Apr 1 |
Virtual Panel of Tullahassee Residents
SITE VISIT: APRIL 3 |
Prepare questions and designate a speaker for your group. |
Journal 6 |
| 11 | Apr 8 |
Developing Goal Statement
|
|
|
| 12 | Apr 15 |
Developing Pathways
|
|
Journal 7 |
| 13 | Apr 22 |
Tullahassee Design Workshop
|
|
Memo: Findings on Research & Engagement |
| 14 | Apr 29 |
Tullahassee Design Workshop
|
Complete Mock Presentation |
|
| 15 | May 6 |
Final Presentation
|
Complete Presentation Complete Report |
Journal 8 (In-Class): Reflection |
University Academic Policies and Student Support
Please refer to COVID-19 Updates and Resources at OU Together.
Course Catalog
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Student Handbook
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Online Library
Access digital materials and other resources at OU Libraries.
Academic Misconduct
In addition to the course conduct policies outlined by your professor in the Course Syllabus in the online classroom, please review the Graduate Student Handbook.
It is the responsibility of each student to be familiar with the definitions, policies, and procedures concerning academic misconduct. The Student Code is available from the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs, and is contained in the Student's Guide to Academic Integrity.
This site also defines misconduct, provides examples of prohibited conduct, and explains the sanctions available for those found guilty of misconduct.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the most common form of academic misconduct at OU. There is basically no college-level assignment that can be satisfactorily completed by copying. OU's basic assumption about writing is that all written assignments show the student's own understanding in the student's own words. That means all writing assignments, in class or out, are assumed to be composed entirely of words generated (not simply found) by the student, except where words written by someone else are specifically marked as such with proper citation. Including other people's words in your paper is helpful when you do it honestly and correctly. When you don't, it's plagiarism.
For more information about plagiarism, watch this video and then take this short course offered by University Libraries.
Reasonable Accommodation for Disabilities
The University of Oklahoma is committed to providing reasonable accommodation for all students with disabilities. Students with disabilities who require accommodations in this course should contact their professor as early in the semester as possible.
Students with disabilities must be registered with the Disability Resource Center prior to receiving accommodations in this course.
If you have a disability and you would like to make a request for reasonable accommodation, please see the Graduate Student Handbook or get in touch with the Accessibility and Disability Resource Center.
Adjustments for Pregnancy/Childbirth Related Issues
Should you need modifications or adjustments to your course requirements because of documented pregnancy-related or childbirth-related issues, please contact me as soon as possible to discuss your options. Generally, modifications will be made where medically necessary and similar in scope to accommodations based on temporary disability. Learn more about the rights of pregnant and parenting students by consulting the FAQ sheets provided by the Institutional Equity Office.
Title IX Resources
For any concerns regarding gender-based discrimination, sexual harassment, sexual misconduct, stalking, or intimate partner violence, the University offers a variety of resources, including advocates on-call 24/7, counseling services, mutual no contact orders, scheduling adjustments, and disciplinary sanctions against the perpetrator. Please contact the Sexual Misconduct Office at 405-325-2215 (8-5, M-F) or OU Advocates at 405-615-0013 (24/7) to learn more or to report an incident.
Religious Holidays
It is the policy of the University to excuse absences of students that result from religious observances and to provide for the rescheduling of examinations and additional required classwork that may fall on religious holidays without penalty. It is the responsibility of the student to make alternate arrangements with the instructor at least one week prior to the actual date of the religious holiday.
Copyright Policy
It is illegal to download, upload, reproduce, or distribute any copyrighted material, in any form and in any fashion, without permission from the copyright holder or his/her authorized agent. The University of Oklahoma expects all members of its community to comply fully with federal copyright laws. If such laws appear to have been violated by any user, the university reserves the right (1) to terminate that user’s access to some or all of the university’s computer systems and information resources and (2) to take additional disciplinary actions as deemed necessary or appropriate. Repeat offenders will be sanctioned and their privileges terminated.
Registration and Withdrawal
If you choose to withdraw from this course, you must complete the appropriate University form and turn the form in before the deadline. If you stop attending the course and doing the coursework without doing the required paperwork, your grade will be calculated with missed homework and examination grades entered as zero. This could result in receiving a grade of F in the course. Deadlines are shown in the Academic Calendar, which is available from the Office of the Registrar.
Student Grievances
In addition to any policies outlined related to submitting an informal or formal grievance by your professor in the Course Syllabus in the online classroom, please review the Graduate Student Handbook for more information about the process of submitting a formal grievance.
Course Summary:
| Date | Details | Due |
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