Mark Shepard
Society/Culture
122 Environment, Behavior, and Design (3 cr)
Examines contemporary perspectives on the relationships between human behavior and designed environments, and explores implications of those relationships for the purpose, nature, and future direction of design education, design research, and design practice.
Open to non-majors.
211 American Diversity and Design (3 cr)
Examines the relationship of design to the changing nature of American society, examining the rich diversity of cultural experiences and its attendant environmental issues. Concentrates on ways physical and media environments affect various populations in the U.S., and ways these populations affect our environments. Introduces students to eight issues of diversity: race, ethnicity, gender, class, age, physical ability/disability, mental ability/disability, and religion. Analyzes American physical and media environments in terms of equitable use, flexibility in use, simple and intuitive use, perceptible information, tolerance for error, low physical effort, and size and space for approach and use.
Open to non-majors.
426 Color Culture Theory (3 cr)
Examines recent approaches to the study of color in relation to space, surface, and representation through the lenses of expanding and overlapping practices. Students study color in painting, literature, film, consumer media, installation and architecture to develop an understanding of its cultural impact.
463 Design for the Life Span (3 cr)
Overview of major goals and approaches for design and planning for life-span needs, with special attention to older and disabled individuals. Students pursue selected research projects or work together on a class project.
464 Behavior and Space (3 cr)
Role of social theory in understanding architecture. Impact of buildings on human behavior, and behavioral issues in the design process. Effects of social and cultural factors on development, implementation, and use of research information in the design process.
467 Reserach Practice (1 - 7 cr)
Past activities involved analysis and development of real problems accepted from various sponsors. The student's specific contribution to the research findings must be documented and filed with the department and sponsor.
490-498 Special Topics
The Social Nature of Architecture
Introduces the concept of "place" with respect to the discourse and practice of architecture and explores major theories and methods in the area of environment and behavior. Material is drawn from multiple disciplines including architecture, phenomenology, science, history and cultural studies.
