Humanities Arts Cultural Stu 0218 - Utopia

This course is an examination of utopian plans in architecture and art, including the works of C-N Ledoux, William Morris, Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier, Kandinsky, Buckminster Fuller, and others. We will consider the philosophical constructs of utopia in architectural drawings, buildings, and plans in relationship to film, painting, sculpture, and the decorative arts. We will consider how different projections about life in the future are also harsh criticisms of the present, which often rely upon imagined views of social organizations in times past. We will examine the relationship of the individual to the community, and consider how spatial constructions-real and imagined-can affect this relationship. The course begins with an examination of significant literary utopias, including the books by Sir Thomas More, Bellamy, and Morris. We examine the tensions between theory and practice, by studying the successes and failures of actual attempts at utopian communities. Self-scheduled screenings of films that challenge the difference between utopia and dystopia will set up our discussions of displacement and chaos, as we consider whether utopian design is applicable to the 21st century.

Culture, Humanities, and Languages Independent Work Writing and Research In this course, students will spend an additional 6-8 hours weekly on work and preparation outside of class time.