This course will survey of principal developments in architecture and urbanism from 1933 to the present. It will begin with a consideration of the role of architecture in Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia and then explore the global diffusion of western modernism, the development of the metropolis and megalopolis, suburbanization, the emergence of postmodernist and critical regionalist traditions, the quest for sustainability and green buildings, and the imbrication of the built environment in the political, social, and cultural changes accompanying the coldwar, the civil rights and anti-war movements, the counterculture, and decolonization. Architects and urbanists to be studied include Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Kahn, Walter Gropius, Oscar Niemeyer, Robert Venturi, Denise Scott-Brown, Gunther Behnisch, Alvar Aalto, Alison and Peter Smithson, Archigram, Superstudio, Frei Otto, Alvaro Siza, Gunnar Asplund, Jorn Utzon, Frank Gehry, Carlo Scarpa, Buckminster Fuller, Clorindo Testa, Lina Bo Bardi, Charles and Ray Eames, Richard Rogers, Renzo Piano, Richard Meier, Aldo Van Eyck, Peter Eisenman, Bruce Goff, Paul Rudolph, Norman Foster, Tadao Ando, Charles Correa, Arthur Erickson, Paolo Solieri, Constant, Robert Moses, Jean Nouvel, James Stirling, Wang Shu, Charles Moore, Michael Graves, Kongjian Yu, Balkrishna Doshi, Kenzo Tange, Steven Holl, Kengo Kuma, Francis Kere, Herzog and de Meuron, Peter Zumthor, Arata Isozaki, Zaha Hadid, Rem Koolhaas, Enrique Norton, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, and Candilis, Josic, and Woods. Assignment structure: Weekly reading assignment questions, take-home midterm, and final research paper.
Days: TU TH  05:00-06:20 PM

This upper-division course looks at the storied and dynamic relationships driven by Germany with China, Japan, and South Korea over the past 130 years. Starting with the Meiji Restoration, the Boxer Rebellion and the Korean War, German 103/German 160 traces the evolution of Germany’s economic, political and cultural relationships with Asia from the late nineteenth-century to the global present. Students will examine the economic and territorial ambitions of the German empire’s ambitions in Asia and later explore how the embrace of soft power (such as cultural exchanges, partner cities, education programs, and immigration treaties) in the postwar era allowed West Germany to forge significant economic and political ties with China, Japan and South Korea.  We will conclude the course by looking at pressing contemporary issues and future trends, discussing how global challenges like climate change and technological advancements might impact these global relationships moving forward.

(same as 25740 German 150, Lec A;   26100 GlblClt 103A, Lec A;   and 26870 History 183, Lec A)

Days: TU TH  11:00-12:20 PM

The medieval romance has always been defined by both love and arms.  In this writing course, we’re going to explore the origins of these chivalric romances by reading some exciting and innovative romances of the twelfth century, like Marie de France’s famous collection of Lais, Chretien de Troye’s Arthurian tales of Lancelot and the grail, and fragments of Tristan and Iseut.  These are wild works, with knights embarking on obscure quests, solving seemingly intractable problems, testing their prowess and acting on forbidden love.  They also tell us a lot about the writing process.  The class will include two papers (one a creative option), group power point and portfolio.
Days: MO WE  10:00-10:50 AM

ES 100B / GLBCLT 191/ HIST 114 | ES 200C
How Nations Remember
Spring 2024

Professor Anke Biendarra (abiendar@uci.edu)
European Languages and Studies

Just as different nations have individual histories, they select and organize what they want to remember about their pasts in different and often specific ways. This seminar takes a comparative look at models of remembrance and the memorialization of specific historical and political events, mostly of the 20th century, in various countries and regions (Germany, France, Eastern Europe, and South Africa). We will ask how these events are represented in political discourse, public art works and museums, as well as in literature and film. What happens when different historical and political perspectives and memories confront each other in the public sphere? How can different groups stake their own claims for recognition and justice within a given national and political framework? What role do memorials, museums and public artworks play in the process, and how democratic are they?

Days: TU TH  11:00-12:20 PM

A close reading of Plato's Republic.

Repeatability: May be taken for credit 2 times as topics vary.
Days: MO WE  11:00-12:20 PM

Emphasis/Category: Atlantic Rim, Locating Europes and European Colonies, Pacific Rim, Inter-Area Studies, Locating Asias (Nation, Culture, and Diaspora)

The literature of Vietnam and the Vietnamese diaspora counts among the most vibrant, innovative, beautiful, and aesthetically powerful currents of contemporary francophone culture.  We will study a range of key texts from the nineteenth through twenty-first centuries by such key writers as Nguyên Du, Vu Van Huan, Marguerite Duras, Pham Duy Khiêm, Pham Van Ky, Ly Thu Ho, Kim Lefèvre, Xuân Phuc, Edith Simon, and Linda Lê, as well as filmmaker Trân Anh Hùng.

(same as 24934 French 127, Lec A)
Days: MO WE  11:00-11:50 AM

Emphasis/Category: Locating Europes and European Colonies, Inter-Area Studies, Locating Asias (Nation, Culture, and Diaspora)

This upper-division course looks at the storied and dynamic relationships driven by Germany with China, Japan, and South Korea over the past 130 years. Starting with the Meiji Restoration, the Boxer Rebellion and the Korean War, German 103/German 160 traces the evolution of Germany’s economic, political and cultural relationships with Asia from the late nineteenth-century to the global present. Students will examine the economic and territorial ambitions of the German empire’s ambitions in Asia and later explore how the embrace of soft power (such as cultural exchanges, partner cities, education programs, and immigration treaties) in the postwar era allowed West Germany to forge significant economic and political ties with China, Japan and South Korea.  We will conclude the course by looking at pressing contemporary issues and future trends, discussing how global challenges like climate change and technological advancements might impact these global relationships moving forward.

(same as 23075 EAS 155, Lec A;   25740 German 150, Lec A;   and 26870 History 183, Lec A)
Days: TU TH  11:00-12:20 PM

Emphasis/Category: Locating Europes and European Colonies, Inter-Area Studies

Just as different nations have individual histories, they select and organize what they want to remember about their pasts in different and often specific ways. This seminar takes a comparative look at models of remembrance and the memorialization of specific historical and political events, mostly of the 20th century, in various countries and regions (Germany, France, Eastern Europe, and South Africa). We will ask how these events are represented in political discourse, public art works and museums, as well as in literature and film. What happens when different historical and political perspectives and memories confront each other in the public sphere? How can different groups stake their own claims for recognition and justice within a given national and political framework? What role do memorials, museums and public artworks play in the process, and how democratic are they?

(same as 24011 Euro St 100B, Lec A;   and 26700 History 114, Lec A)
Days: TU TH  11:00-12:20 PM