Instructor: Prof. Kathryn H. Anthony Ph.D., Chair, Design Faculty
Office: 412 Architecture
Office Hours: Wednesday 11 a.m.-12 p.m. and as arranged
Phone: 244-5520 (voice mail)
E-mail: kanthony@uiuc.edu
Instructor's Web Site: http://brc.arch.uiuc.edu/kanthony.htm
Class meets: MW 9:30am - 11:00am Room 210A Architecture
Please note: Course enrollment limited to 20 students. Priority will be given to students closest to graduation and to architecture and gender & women's studies majors. No auditors permitted.

PURPOSE
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to an aspect of architecture that has all too often been overlooked: the role of women and people of color (i.e., African Americans, Latino/Latina Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and others). As in many other fields, the work of white males has historically dominated architecture. Furthermore, due to the persistence of the "star system," the valuable contributions of women architects and architects of color, for the most part, have not been recognized. To a certain extent, this pattern can also be seen in the related environmental design professions of landscape architecture and urban design. This class calls attention to the work of both women architects and architects of color as consumers, critics, and creators of the environment (i.e., as clients and users, writers and researchers, design practitioners, educators, and students).

Through your participation in this course, you will supplement both the body of knowledge and educational perspective traditionally conveyed across the architectural curriculum, and gain an understanding of some key issues in this rapidly emerging field.

OBJECTIVES
By the end of this course, you should be able to:

• better understand and analyze your own experiences as a student;
• refer to useful professional networks that may help you in your future efforts to gain employment in the field;
• introduce yourself and establish a professional relationship with a woman architect or an architect of color;
• analyze and critique a wide variety of growing literature in the field;
• understand some important historic contributions that women and people of color have made to architecture and environmental design;
• identify some leading historic figures (i.e., women architects and architects of color);
• analyze how the built environment reflects social attitudes toward gender and race, especially in restrooms, housing, urban and suburban spaces, workspaces, birth settings, and elsewhere;
• identify and analyze the work of contemporary women and people of color in architecture and related disciplines, and understand some of the major issues that face these practitioners, educators, critics, and students;
• understand some efforts currently underway in our major professional organizations to help improve the status of women and people of color in environmental design; and
• analyze some complex issues surrounding gender and race in architecture, and help chart out some new avenues for future research.

FORMAT
The course will be run as a series of seminar discussions. Since the course material is new and evolving, lectures will be at a minimum. It is essential that you come to class prepared to discuss the assigned materials for each day. While we will be drawing upon the literature as a key source of information, we will occasionally rely upon guest lectures and/or a field trip--as well as your own experiences.

Although at times the issues we discuss may prove controversial, a cooperative - rather than a confrontational - atmosphere in the class is encouraged. Healthy discussion and debate are welcome. Please do your share in creating a positive learning environment.