Spring 2019

Renegades: The American School of Architecture

ARCH 4970/5970

Stephanie Pilat, Division of Architecture

Luca Guido, Division of Architecture

"A new school, probably the only indigenous one in the United States" is how the architect Donald MacDonald once characterized the school of architecture that developed under the guidance of Bruce Goff and Herb Greene at the University of Oklahoma in the 1950s and '60s. At the time, architecture schools in the United States followed a curriculum inspired by either the French Beaux Arts school or the German Bauhaus school. On one hand, the French model centered on studies of classical principles of design and entailed meticulous copying of the great classical architecture of Greece and Rome. On the other hand, schools such as the Illinois Institute of Technology and the Harvard Graduate School of Design adapted the Bauhaus curriculum model-known for embracing industry and abstraction in art, architecture, and design-to the American context. Only the University of Oklahoma stood apart from these two trends and developed an original and authentically American approach to architecture and pedagogy.

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Perspectives on Food and Culture in the United States

HON 2973.003/004/005

Julia Ehrhardt, Honors College

This Perspectives course introduces students to the interdisciplinary study of food, a burgeoning academic field. We will begin by investigating how food shapes personal, group, and national identities, and then study how gender, ethnicity, and race contribute to these formulations. Next, we will turn to contemporary issues regarding food in the United States: the lives and working conditions of immigrant farm laborers who produce what we put on our tables, the politics underlying school lunch programs, and the ethics of eating meat. Finally, we will investigate the future of food and explore possible solutions for feeding the world in the future. Readings, in-class discussions, and paper assignments will facilitate our examination of these topics. The goal of this class is to understand how food shapes lived experience in the United States, and vice-versa—how our experiences with food have defined and presently signify about national life in the United States.

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Sports PR and Marketing

JMC 4433/5433

Jensen Moore, Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication

This Dream Course focuses on understanding the myriad of communication efforts utilized in the dissemination of information in today’s sport world. Throughout the semester students will interact with sport promotion, branding, and communication experts from all over the world. The course will enhance student’s chances of success in the sport industry by discussing the various techniques, strategies, and technologies available to sport organizations, athletes, and venues when attempting to build positive relationships with consumers, corporations, and the media.

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Women in Media Leadership

JMC 4970/5970

Elanie Steyn, Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication

Traditionally and across cultures, the tendency has been (and in many cases, continues to be) to “think leader, think man.” Women are late to the leadership and management tables in many industries. In some countries, women have no “formal leadership” role to play and many girls grow up having no idea of their dreams, capacities or contributions to the societies they live in. Yet, in many of these societies, women “hold up half the sky,” to paraphrase the late Chinese leader Mao Zedong. Not in formalized ways. And often not in glamorous ways either. But in ways that contribute to the strength of their people’s cultural, political, and economic fiber.

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