Doctoral Program Proseminar

This pro-seminar is one way of fulfilling a requirement for successful completion of the Doctor of Design program. Primarily, it will focus on various thematic areas that range across individual study topics and the methods and skills that might be involved in each area. Generally, these will include: historical thinking, critical thinking, thinking about technologies, analysis of social settings, theorizing landscapes, theorizing aspects of architecture and urban form, as well as analyzing environmental performance. In addition, various perspectives on aspects of constructed environments will be presented and discussed. The ubiquitous task of documentation and adequacy of background research will also be taken up. Each seminar will be of two to three hours duration and comprised of presentation by an invited faculty member on a theme of their research and scholarly interest with follow-up questions. This will be followed by summary presentations by students of selected readings on each theme, followed by further discussion. Other class assignments will include short topical presentations by students on their research topics and discussion of literature reviews, along with related issues.