Welcome to ARCH 311w, Architectural and Planning Theories at The Pennsylvania State University. With the “w” designation, the course satisfies the “writing across the curriculum” requirement for undergraduate students. Though the course is required and intended for third-year undergraduate architecture students, others are welcome within the course enrollment limit.

I created this course with the intention of making architectural education more connected to the activities and writings within the profession—active, engaged, relevant writing found in current periodicals. The course transitioned from being locked behind the ANGEL LMS to a WordPress site in Spring 2015 to facilitate these links and current ways of working. As CAD was first used as a digital 2D pencil, ANGEL was merely a repository for readings via PDF scans, and student work via Dropbox submissions.

The enthusiastic participation of Spring 2015 students proved that the move allows broader and more engaged thinking on the topic of architectural and planning theories. However, this site (and its instructor) is still undergoing significant development. If you have any suggestions for improvement, and especially if you find any broken links, please let me know in the comment section. I review these on a regular basis as the site becomes more fully functional.

If you need to learn more about WordPress and how to use it (as a student you must post here), check out the WordPress Tutorials on Lynda.com, available to you through PSU’s IT services at the following links. You must authenticate yourself with the first link before you are able to access the content in the second link.

• PSU Gateway to Lynda.com, requiring PSU authentication
• WordPress Essential Training with Morten Rand-Hendriksen

Thank you for your participation in my entry to the 21st century. Now onward!

photo credit: Rhughes411 via photopin cc