Course Offerings by term

Topics vary by semester

Investigates the growth patterns of Paris from Roman times through the Second Empire. Studies major monuments, pivotal points of urban design, and vernacular architecture on site. Presents the general vocabulary of architecture, the history of French architecture and urban planning, as well as a basic knowledge of French history to provide a framework for understanding the development of Paris.

Celebrated for the beauty of its architectural past, Paris is also a rapidly changing, dynamic, modern metropolis in the present. From its historical center to newer neighbourhoods at the city's periphery, recent buildings and urban projects have altered Paris and made it the site of significant modern architecture and urbanism. This course introduces the major new monuments and urban designs that characterize the city today. Following a brief historical introduction, the Grand Projects such as the Louvre Pyramid, the Grand Arch and the Bastille Opera, as well as more modest and unassuming structures, will be studied on site. Focussing on the major architectural and urban undertakings of the past few decades, such as museums, libraries, cultural centers, housing projects and public parks, this course explores how the architecture and urban fabric of the past have been reassessed to suit modern materials, tastes and needs. Students will also investigate how international influences have been adapted, adopted, or rejected in the creation of Paris today. Emphasis is placed on the students' grasp of the material, rather than the completion of a chronological survey.

This course will introduce you to the major works of the Italian and Northern Renaissance from 1300 to 1600. Emphasis will be placed on understanding artworks within their original cultural contexts, paying particular attention to the production and circulation of art in an age of exploration and discovery. Key themes and issues of consideration will include the idea of a classical revival and artistic self-fashioning, questions of imitation and style, courtly values, art collecting and the ethnographic print, as well as the religious debates of the period and the changing status of the sacred image.