At Syllabus Fall 2015
Architecture Theory Thesis (AR2AT030)
Technische Universiteit Delft
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ARCHITECTURE THEORY THESIS COURSE
AR2AT030 / 6ECTS / Sem. I 2015 -2016 / Fall 2015
Course Introduction:
The Theory of Architecture today refers to a very broad and rich field, as the recently published SAGE Handbook of Architectural Theory will attest (1). Although Architectural Theory is not given by ‘chronologies’ or linear historical evolutions, but rather develops along the transformation of thought or ‘genealogies’, for the sake of establishing a theoretical framework of contemporary Architectural Theory, we may contextualize it within a shift that touched ground, so to speak, during the late 1960s, and which sparked what many cultural critics have identified as the ‘postmodern turn’. (2) The ‘condition of postmodernity’ (3) is the result of the concatenation of a series of forces and events, which together changed not only the very nature of capitalist accumulation and development, but which ultimately had consequences and effects on cultural production at large, architecture included. No matter from which angle or perspective we might frame specific theoretical concerns, this ‘condition’ largely defines our contemporary social realities. As such, it serves as sort of ‘ground’ from where a wide diversity of discursive, theoretical and epistemological streams have continued to emerge over the past five decades: from critiques to the way in which politico-economic logics impact socio-spatial realities, to the way in which the advancement of technology impinges in our everyday lives, and beyond. All these concerns may be extended and related to contemporary domains of architecture theory. The main challenge is to frame them adequately. The most important step to be taken by architects wishing to frame their practice from a theoretical position is to firstly identify an appropriate theme and relate it to a relevant theoretical framework. In other words, we must identify our ‘problématique’ and elaborate a set of questions around it, which aid us in finding answers, problematizing conventional perspectives, or arriving at speculative positions. In this, it is not a matter of posing just any question, but to pose the right questions. The overabundance of themes, topics, and scopes, not to mention the excessive amount of research sources and resources, makes it difficult at times to select a research theme, narrow it down to manageable dimensions, and produce a convincing theoretical elaboration. The questions of methodology and analysis, of “how to carry out research” and of “how to write a theoretical thesis”, become paramount. For the uninitiated, research, and academic writing, can become problematic if they are carried out in isolation, under time constraints, or without the proper knowledge and skills. These are common pitfalls, which can be avoided. The Theory Thesis Workgroup will assist individual students to identify their interests, to develop these, and to discuss these within a collective setting (seminar/presentations) at the initial stage of the research journey. The main objective of this course, however, is to aid participants in writing individual, comprehensive, structured and coherent Theory Theses.
- Greig Crysler, Stephen Cairns and Hilde Heynen. The SAGE Handbook of Architectural Theory. (London: SAGE, 2012)
- See for instance, David Harvey in The Condition of Postmodernity (1990); Fredric Jameson in Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism (1991) among many others.
- David Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity: An Enquiry into the Origins of Cultural Change. (Oxford, UK: Blackwell, 1990)
Thematic Areas:
We believe that it is important for any graduate student in Architecture to understand the theoretical implications of their contributions to architecture, as a practice and a discourse. Hence, the Architecture Theory Thesis course is aimed at students who wish to develop an Architecture Theory Thesis that delves into the theory of thought models and intellectual conditions from where concepts and ideas emerge within the field of cultural production. In particular, this course reflects the two areas of investigation of the Architecture Theory Section (AT):
In general, the meetings are structured to meet these criteria:
The first meeting will be essentially introductory. All students are required to be present in their own workgroups. In this meeting, tutors will lay out the requirements and “rules” of their own workgroups, and participants will have an opportunity to introduce themselves and their research theme/interest.
The second meeting is meant to be a short theory seminar. This means that students are required to prepare a reading (selected by their tutor) in advance of the meeting. The idea is to understand how research is carried out at an academic level, namely by dealing with texts in all their dimensions, from the content to the form. Often, we forget that texts are rich sources of extra references on topics, which are relevant to our own. We ignore that in the Index we can locate more than other authors alone: we can look up concepts and terms that relate to our own research, making our readings of sources more directed and relevant. Academic texts, be it books, chapters, articles, lecture notes and online sources, are more than sources for content research; they are excellent examples of how to write sound essays, papers, articles and theses, how to give them form and style, how to use referencing systems, how to weave arguments into a seamless, comprehensive whole. Reading and writing are the main practices of any thorough research. And to become a skill (or even a “faculty”) we need to practice them on a regular basis.
The required text will be made available on Blackboard in advance of the seminar meeting. It is, however, recommended to locate this source individually and if possible, acquire it for future reference. A host of research resources and reading recommendations will be suggested during the meetings and as feedback to the submitted work. This reading exercise is required and will be prepared individually in advance of the seminar meeting. (See seminar methodology in Appendix A).
The third and fourth meetings are reserved exclusively for progress presentations & feedback. Participants will prepare a set of maximum three slides in which they will (creatively) express the main theme and argumentation of their research in less than 5 minutes. Public presentations will center on the feedback you receive from the group (and of course the tutor). Participants are required to submit a printed and digital version of their problem statements and argumentation papers respectively on the Friday prior to the third and fourth meetings.
Assistance to all 4 meetings is mandatory. Please make sure not to miss any meeting. Assistance will be monitored. In case of absence, please contact your tutor in advance, if possible.
Deadlines are FINAL. No extensions will be granted and no exceptions will be made without a valid motive and proof. (See our course policy below.) Feedback to drafts will be offered via email and / or during appointments made individually. Plagiarism will not be tolerated! Plagiarized work will be nullified, and the student will be referred to the Board of Education.
Course Calendar & Assignments FALL 2015:
NOTE: PLEASE READ THIS CAREFULLY!!
w. 1 (Tuesday September 01)
Submission of Abstracts – please submit a clear proposal (or abstract) in which you lay out the
theme of your Thesis, emphasizing its theoretical relevance. Please add a set of related
keywords. This is mandatory for all students wishing to follow this course. Submit per
Blackboard Safeassign, and send an email to the AT office (at-msc-bk@tudelft)
w. 1 (Tuesday, September 08)
12-13. 45 hrs. – Room C
Course Introduction (Steven Hagen & Hannah Barth) – all students are asked to be present at
this introduction, you will be informed about your group then, and vital information on the
course will be explained!
&
Introductory Lecture ‘How to write a Thesis’ (Gregory Bracken) - all groups, it is recommended
that all participants assist.
w.1 (Mon. September 14)
10.45-12 hrs. - locations per tutor (Rooms P/Q/X/Y/Z)
Meeting One - Introduction meeting (per tutor)
All students are required to be present at the introductory meeting of their workgroup, and
ready to briefly explain their proposed theme in relation to the theoretical framework they will
use.
w.1 (Monday, September 21)
10.45-12 hrs. - locations per tutor (Rooms P/Q/X/Y/Z)
Meeting Two – theory seminar per tutor
All students are asked to prepare the assigned readings prior to the meeting and be ready to discuss the points mentioned under “seminar methodology”. Participation in the discussion is essential! Assignment for week 1: Problem Statement: advanced problem statement, research questions and tentative bibliography. The problem statement document should include: title page with name and tutor, a thorough elaboration of the problem statement, contextual and introductory frame, theoretical framework and research questions. Include a tentative bibliography, and provisional title and subtitle of your Thesis. Although this is a recommendation, aim for a minimum word count of 650 words. All participants submit a hard copy and send a digital version of the problem statement document to your tutors no later than Friday, September 25 by midnight.
w.1 (Monday, September 28)
10.45-12 hrs. - locations per tutor (Rooms P/Q/X/Y/Z)
Meeting Three – problem statement presentations (per tutor)
All participants prepare their advanced problem statements (including problématique, research questions and tentative bibliography) in no more than 3 slides. Each participant will have 5 minutes time to present these slides. Make sure there is a laptop ready in the room with all presentations on it to avoid unnecessary delays. Please note: Feedback at this stage will be offered during class hours. In those cases where the submitted work is below expectations, feedback will also be offered via email. Assignment for week 1:
w. 2 (Friday, January 08, 2016)
midnight
Final Thesis Submission (100%) – mandatory all groups
All students are required to submit their Final Thesis no later than Friday, January 08, 2016 by midnight. Your Final Thesis should include the finalized and definite version of your Thesis: title page with your name and tutor, title of thesis, table of content, abstract and key-words, introduction, thesis developed fully as per table of content, conclusions, critical apparatus, research bibliography and appendix (if applicable). Final word count is between 7,000 and 10,000 words. Please note: Final submissions will be uploaded via Safeassign on Blackboard. You will receive a link from our coordination assistant prior to the deadline. Follow the instructions carefully. Safeassign will be active during a defined and limited time. After midnight the system will automatically close, and you will no longer be able to upload your Thesis, so please make sure to submit within the allowed timeframe. Also note that Safeassign checks all documents for plagiarism. So reference all your sources properly. If you have doubts or questions on how this system works, please contact our student assistants. Please note: This deadline is absolutely non-negotiable, unless you have strong reasons, and valid proof. Students who fail to submit their work on this date will not be allowed to submit their work until the next term’s deadline. This is likely to interfere with your graduation plans, so make sure to finish your Thesis before or by January 08, 2016. Please carefully read the Deadline Policy below!
Submission & Evaluation Guidelines:
Please read this carefully!
Deadline Policy and Exceptional Cases
We have the best interest of all our students at heart in the Theory Section. We take the task of assisting you to complete your studies in satisfactory ways very seriously. No matter how seriously we take our teaching, however, we cannot do this without implementing strict deadline policies for this course. Hence, our deadlines are equally important and strict than those of your graduation studios.
The Architecture Theory Thesis is a required course for the MSc2 curricula. As such, and upon successful completion, it awards a portion of the required course credits (6ECTS) to begin with the graduation year. This means that without the credits for the Thesis course, you will not be able to register to P2, and this will, in all cases, automatically mean that you will have serious trouble graduating from the Faculty within a year. In some cases, these problems become even more dramatic, if you are following (or want to follow) a studio that runs only once a year, for instance. In case you are planning on graduating according to the regular curricula of the Faculty (that is within a year of the completion of your MSc2), if you have special visa requirements, if you do not have the financial means to extend your studies indefinitely, if you want to avoid stress and anxiety during your graduation year: then please SUBMIT YOUR ASSIGNMENTS AND THE FINAL THESIS ON TIME!
We understand that sometimes life drops unexpected problems on us, which make it difficult to perform in an optimal way. Illness, medical problems or other health-related situations, personal or family circumstances, often even severe stress, may hinder you to deliver your work as requested. If you experience any of these situations at any time during the course, we will do our best to try and help you, taken that you follow these rules:
When in trouble, always and immediately, contact your tutor and the coordinator of the course. Do not wait until the last minute. If you are having difficulties with your tutor, try to work this out with her/him. If this does not work out, contact the coordinator, cc’ing the AT office, and your tutor.
If you anticipate that you will not manage to submit your course assignments prior to the 80% draft (problem statement, argumentation paper, or 50% progress draft) by the allowed deadlines, contact your tutor and the coordinator immediately, preferably well in advance of the deadline. State your motives, explain your situation, and suggest a possible solution. We will try to help you find suitable alternatives.
If, by the time of the 80% progress draft you realize you will NOT submit your 80% PROGRESS DRAFT, and thus also not your FINAL THESIS on time, please follow these instructions: -) Write a clear LETTER requesting a deadline extension and send it to your tutor, the coordinator of the course AND the AT office. This letter of request needs to include the following: date, your name, your student ID, your tutor’s name, and the term you are enrolled in; full explanation of motives and reasons; valid proof (medical slips in case of health-related issues; study advisor’s note in case of all other motives) and clear intent to submit by the agreed (extended) deadline.
NOT valid motives are usually: lack of time, extra course-load related problems, problems related to the studio, urgency to register to P2, failure to receive proper feedback (due to absence, lack of assignment submission, etc. - when the lack of feedback is tutor-related, please contact us the moment you experience this).
We will review your case and decide on the possibilities for extra tutoring or in some cases, extended deadlines. The decision will be communicated per email no later than 5 working days after the date of submission of the letter of request.
Decisions are final. Students granted extension, are asked to reply per email stating their intent to submit by the extended deadline. Students whose request is declined, and who wish to appeal, are asked to contact the exam committee.
Extensions will never be granted outside of these parameters: 15 working days prior to P2 registration dates as marked per academic calendar. Submissions that arrive without previous consent from the course coordinator (in writing) or which are submitted after the 15-day margin will NOT be honoured.
Students whose letter of request is declined will be allowed to submit their Final Thesis (without re- enrolment) on the assigned deadline for each term. Late work submitted “earlier” during the next term, is considered late, and will NOT be honoured.
Late work is to be uploaded via Safeassign in all cases.
Students who fail to assist the meetings (drop-out), who do not submit their assignments, or who simply “disappear” without notice, will have to enrol again in the following term. No extensions or exceptions will be made.
FAILURE TO ASSIST TO THE MEETINGS, NOT SUBMITTING YOUR 80% PROGRESS DRAFT (OR LETTER OF REQUEST), AND FINAL THESIS AUTOMATICALLY MEANS FAILING THE COURSE.
Contact:
Responsible Instructor:
Dr. Heidi Sohn (Assistant Prof. Arch Theory / Theory Section) heidi_sohn@mac / h@tudelft
AT Staff / Course Tutors:
Gregory Bracken Email: gregory@cortlever
Patrick Healy Email: P.E@tudelft
Stavros Kousoulas Email: stakousou@yahoo
Andrej Radman Email: A@tudelft
Heidi Sohn Email: heidi_sohn@mac
For Guest Teachers, please check your BB.
Coordination and Student assistants:
Hannah Barth & Steven Hagen: S.R@tudelft H@tudelft
General Queries:
AT-MSC-BK@tudelft
Blackboard
Please check the blackboard for all information and document updates.
APPENDIX A
EXAMPLE OF COURSE METHODOLOGY (Reading Seminar)
Reading Seminar: Participants are asked to deal and engage with the text from a variety of angles according to their tutors’ instructions. Below you will find a set of recommendations on how to read a text for directed research.
-) Context and content: Content-wise, participants are asked to extract from the text at least three items or points which they find crucial. Make sure to make notes on them to discuss in class. Mark the page numbers, so we can all refer back to the text and engage in discussion.
-) References and sources / Critical Apparatus: read the text carefully, stopping at moments when the author refers to external sources, quotes from other references, or mentions other scholars’ work. Look up these references, and think whether these are perhaps interesting leads to your own research. How are these references credited? Are there footnotes? Endnotes? How does the author extend ideas in the critical apparatus?
-) Index: although we will read from PDF’s you are encouraged to look actual books up in the library and consult their Index. Run a few of your keywords through it. Do they appear? When you read the pages mentioned, do you relate to what is said? This is called directed research. Exercise it in all the sources you consult throughout the elaboration of your research.
-) Structure & Organization: Look at the table of content, if available (and if not, look it up online or in a library). See how the work is structured and organized. Is this thematically? Chronologically? In parts? Chapters? Can you guess the general theme, tone and direction of the argument if you look at the content-index? Is there an “invisible blueprint” of the book? (Hint: yes, in most cases there is, but the author won’t disclose this in the published work).
-) Style and Format: beyond the contents of the texts, focus on how the writing is the central vehicle on elaborating solid argumentation lines. How are the problems presented, how are they developed, how does the author “make his/her points”? Are they convincing? How is this done? Is it by using external quotations, or connecting the arguments to other works? Is it speculative? Analytic? Synthetic?
Other recommendations:
-) Keeping a “Thesis Log”: make notes for yourself and for the seminar discussion, keep track of these notes by using a single notebook, an open folder in which you add documents related to your Thesis, etc.
APPENDIX B
ESSAY WRITING
Some basic information on: Citations, Notes, Bibliography & References
A Thesis classifies as academic work. As such it is subject to strict scholarly standards and protocols. At the Theory Section we take academic standard of performance and responsibility for research documentation (proper referencing and accurate resource citation) very seriously. This is the case for all work handed in whether in draft form or final version. All essays produced should utilize a consistent critical apparatus (see Appendix A). This is not only important for your research proper, it is essential to avoid accounts of plagiarism. Always reference your source!! All academic work requires the sources and references to be clearly indicated. A bibliography is always required. There are many different methods for developing proper references and citations the general term used for such things is ‘styles’. For instance, the humanities (disciplines such as history & theory) use different styles than those used in the sciences (i. social science & economics). Depending on the type of research you are carrying out, you should select the appropriate style for your work. Whichever style you choose to use, the most important thing is consistency. Consistency is critical! In other words – absolutely no mixing of styles in any one essay or paper. You may choose to use a ‘footnote’ system, or an ‘endnote’ system, or a combination of both, depending on the style guide you select. It is very important to stay consistent throughout your writing and researching. Footnotes may be handy when you want to extend an idea or refer to a source, which is not directly related to the argumentation line or elaboration of your main body. They may include direct references to quotations, citations, or notions taken from other sources. Endnotes will be collected at the end of the Thesis, and fulfil the role of both, a critical apparatus, and a bibliography. How you use these systems depends on which style you follow. Some of the most common styles are:
1) “Number System”
see for instance: e-education.psu/styleforstudents/c5_p12.html
2) Chicago Manual of Style (CMS)
chicagomanualofstyle/home.html
3) Modern Humanities Research Association (MHRA)
mhra.org/Publications/Books/StyleGuide/
4) Harvard System
education.exeter.ac/dll/studyskills/harvard_referencing.htm
5) Oxford System (footnotes)
student.unsw.edu/footnote-bibliography-or-oxford-referencing-system
To identify the most suitable referencing system / style guide, consult any of these links and writing resources: bristol.ac/arts/exercises/referencing/referencing%20skills/page_05.htm adelaide.edu/writingcentre/referencing_guides/
We will upload several documents in this regard on BB every term. Please consult these, or ask your tutor for extra material in case you need it.
APPENDIX C
ASSESSMENT CRITERIA FINAL THESIS
- Purpose, Planning and Problems of the Thesis
- Choice, specification and justification of topic
- Presentation of problems and hypotheses
- Scientific significance and contribution of the Thesis
2. Familiarization with Literature
2. Knowledge of the subject area and critical use of sources
- Definition and use of concepts
3. Choice of Research Approach, Methods, and Research Frame
3. Data collection
3. Suitability and use of Methods
3. Research Ethics
4. Research Results
4. Presentation
4. Use of tables and figures
5. Discussion and Conclusions
5. Evaluation of strengths and weaknesses of the research
5. Relevance and compatibility of conclusions to main argumentation
6. Structure and Coherence of the Thesis
6. Indexical organization of content
6. Structural coherence and thematic continuity
7. Linguistic Form and Final Polishing of the Text
7. Clarity of exposed ideas
7. Style and format
8. Student Development
At Syllabus Fall 2015
Vak: Architecture Theory Thesis (AR2AT030)
Universiteit: Technische Universiteit Delft
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