EnD 3993

Environmental Design Practicum

Instructors: Shane Hampton and Vanessa Morrison

Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture

Institute for Quality Communities

Syllabus
provides an overview of this course.

Community Partners
Learn about community partners for the course

Welcome to EnD Practicum!

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.