Seminar + Reading Response Structure

On scheduled weeks, Groups of 3 students will be asked to select a Reading Packet for disussion and lead the Seminar.  To facilitate this, and to encourage participation, framing questions for the seminar will be identical to the framing questions for the Reading Response that are due that week.

Framing Questions for Seminars:

1. Cite relevant aspects of the text (with quotations, please) that inspire more nuanced ways of thinking about cities, public-ness, nature, time, encounters with human and non-human being, environments, aesthetics, form — etc.
2. The way parks were designed in the early 20th century do not necessarily reflect how we think today. If we consider that many were conceived and implemented to address contemporaneous hopes or values, what aspects (gleaned from a close reading of the texts and/or a close reading of a park itself) are still relevant today?  What aspects have become obsolete — and why and how?  What might remain relevant or become obsolete in 100 years — and why or how?
3. What park elements (things, systems, environments) or infrastructures support the themes or positions you’ve identified in this week’s readings?
4. How (and why) might we rethink the composition, activities, infrastructures or spatial arrangements to address questions raised by this week’s topic?

Notes on Reading Responses:

With the exception of the Naive Statement of Intentions, Reading Responses and other statements should include 2 quotations from the texts. Readings  can take the form of a meditation on the readings, a statement of position, a design agenda, or even narrative fiction.  Written Reading Responses should be at least 250 words, longer if you desire.