MARC5100: Semester 1, 2021

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Units MARC5100 Semester 1 2021 [Normal day]

Unit of study_

MARC5100: Advanced Topics in Architectural History

Semester 1, 2021 [Normal day] - Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney

Overview

This unit investigates topics in the study of architectural history. Assuming an undergraduate knowledge of the field, the course will explore in depth specific moments in time, bodies of work, geographies, building types, thematics, or other frames that will be defined year to year. Seminars and assessment tasks will offer an introduction to the history of architecture, broadly defined, and to the literature allowing for advanced independent study. Seminars will foster close attention to specific topics within the history of architecture, which consider a range of topics. These may include the intellectual and cultural contexts of architectural production and/or use; formal or implied debates that have shaped the field; historical problems in architectural design, planning or construction; modes of evidenced thought and communication; race, labour or religion; institutions and literature and their role in mediating knowledge. Working against a defined canon of significant works, this unit is global in its scope and open to treating the architecture of all periods of time. The unit will hone students' skills of historical analysis to prepare for both further study and a full engagement with architecture's professional culture. It will, too, foster a sense of historicity for the present moment.

Unit details and rules

Unit code	MARC5100
Academic unit	Architecture
Credit points	6
Prohibitions ?	None
Prerequisites ?	None
Corequisites ?	None
Assumed knowledge ?	None
Available to study abroad and exchange students	Yes

Teaching staff

Coordinator	Andrew Leach, andrew.leach@sydney.edu.au

Type	Description	Weight	Due	Length
Assignment	Process Submission Bibliographical entries with 100-word descriptions of content and relevance	20%	Week 04 Due date: 26 Mar 2021 at 23:00	Min 20 annotated bibliographical entries
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Interim Submission A draft version of the final submission prepared for extensive comments.	30%	Week 08 Due date: 30 Apr 2021 at 23:00	3500-6000 words, incl notes, excl bibl
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Research Paper Resolved research essay shaped by independent scholarship.	50%	Week 13 Due date: 04 Jun 2021 at 23:00	6000 words, incl notes, excl bibl
Outcomes assessed:

Assessment summary

Assessment 1 (20%) requires students to identify a minimum of 20 sources pertaining to the topic of the individual research paper (developed over the course of the semester). Each item will be documented according to the formatting rules of the Chicago Manual of Style. For each item in the bibliography, a short description of the content and relevance of each item will be included.
Assessment 2 (30%) requires students to prepare a draft of an individual research paper (the brief for which will be published ahead of week 1) of sufficient length (3500-6000 words, including notes, excluding bibliography) to allow constructive comments to inform preparation of work for final submission.
Assessment 3 (50%) requires students to prepare and submit a resolved research paper of 6000 words’ length (incl notes, excl bibliography). As the brief will explain at greater length the parameters of the assignment topic and the objectives the project is intended to meet.
Assessment criteria for each assignment will be published along with the brief, including a breakdown of marks allocated to each criterion.

Assessment criteria

Assignment 1 (20 marks available): mark range FA-HD, submission required.

Assignment 2 (30 marks available): mark range FA-HD, submission required.

Assignment 3 (50 marks available): mark range FA-HD, submission required.

Cumulative marks of 50/100 required for a course pass, with 65 needed for CR, 75 D, and 85 HD. Failure to submit work will result in AF.

For more information see guide to grades.

Late submission

In accordance with University policy, these penalties apply when written work is submitted after 11:59pm on the due date:

Deduction of 5% of the maximum mark for each calendar day after the due date.
After ten calendar days late, a mark of zero will be awarded.

This unit has an exception to the standard University policy or supplementary information has been provided by the unit coordinator. This information is displayed below:

Penalties will be applied according to the relevant policy of the School of Architecture, Design and Planning.

Academic integrity

The Current Student website provides information on academic integrity and the resources available to all students. The University expects students and staff to act ethically and honestly and will treat all allegations of academic integrity breaches seriously.

We use similarity detection software to detect potential instances of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breach. If such matches indicate evidence of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breaches, your teacher is required to report your work for further investigation.

You may only use artificial intelligence and writing assistance tools in assessment tasks if you are permitted to by your unit coordinator, and if you do use them, you must also acknowledge this in your work, either in a footnote or an acknowledgement section.

Studiosity is permitted for postgraduate units unless otherwise indicated by the unit coordinator. The use of this service must be acknowledged in your submission.

Learning support

Simple extensions

If you encounter a problem submitting your work on time, you may be able to apply for an extension of five calendar days through a simple extension.  The application process will be different depending on the type of assessment and extensions cannot be granted for some assessment types like exams.

Special consideration

If exceptional circumstances mean you can’t complete an assessment, you need consideration for a longer period of time, or if you have essential commitments which impact your performance in an assessment, you may be eligible for special consideration or special arrangements.

Special consideration applications will not be affected by a simple extension application.

Using AI responsibly

Co-created with students, AI in Education includes lots of helpful examples of how students use generative AI tools to support their learning. It explains how generative AI works, the different tools available and how to use them responsibly and productively.

Weekly schedule

WK	Topic	Learning activity
Week 01	Considering the Tasks and Tools of Architectural History, Today (or, what history does for architecture, in particular) -- What is the job of historical knowledge and research in contemporary architectural culture?	Seminar (2 hr)
Week 02	Making Sense of an Archive: Where does Alexander Neumann’s Belong? -- How to locate conventional architectural history documents that do not "belong" to where they are?	Seminar (2 hr)
Week 03	The History of Ideas as a Basis for the History of Architecture I: Mannerism in the Twentieth Century -- What happens when we change style from a way of organising history to a basis for historical analysis?	Seminar (2 hr)
Week 04	What is Essential to Architecture? Bruno Zevi’s Zero Degree -- What makes architectural history "architectural"?	Seminar (2 hr)
Week 05	Filling the Gaps in the Library: Reading Giusta Nicco Fasola -- How do we negotiate the limits of our knowledge, and especially around what we have read, and what we have not thought to read?	Seminar (2 hr)
Week 06	The History of Ideas as a Basis for the History of Architecture II: Revisiting the Theory Moment -- How can we historicise the recent past and position it as historically contingent, along with its effects on the present?	Seminar (2 hr)
Week 07	Australia and the British Slave Trade: Capital Flows, Property Ownership, and Architecture, 1830s-1850s -- What demands does the digital history study of the compensation paid to UK slave owners place on our historical narratives?	Seminar (2 hr)
Week 08	Colonialism: New South Wales and the Private Property Frontier -- How did the British Crown treat private property ownership on the Australian continent after 1770, and what its practices supplant? How to relate land to architecture, historically? And to how we understand Australia's architectural fabric today?	Seminar (2 hr)
Week 09	Kororareka and the Tasman World: Maritime Geographies for an Architectural History of the British Empire -- What geographical units can shape what kinds of architectural history narratives?	Seminar (2 hr)
Week 10	Who do You Think You Are? Private Heritage and Public Monuments -- To what extent do the records released by the genealogy industry shape different architectural histories, and different relationships with architectural history narratives?	Seminar (2 hr)
Week 11	Material Economies: Timber in the Tasman World: Material Economies and the the Architectural History of the British Empire -- How does the lens of how materials are introduced into the construction economy and international trade change from one resource to the next?	Seminar (2 hr)
Week 12	Architecture’s Institutions and the Policy Landscape: Architectural Education in the Neoliberal Turn -- How have the changes to which the Australian university sector (and education in general) has been subject in the last five decades affected architecture’s standing, and its values?	Seminar (2 hr)
Week 13	Locating Ourselves in Historical Consciousness: The Renaissance We Need -- How does the historical field we construct for ourselves change history’s significance for architectural practice, from one present to the next?	Seminar (2 hr)

Attendance and class requirements

Attendance requirements will be consistent with the requirements of the School of Architecture, Design and Planning. Note that all seminars will have a digital footprint so that any missed classes can be followed.

Study commitment

Typically, there is a minimum expectation of 1.5-2 hours of student effort per week per credit point for units of study offered over a full semester. For a 6 credit point unit, this equates to roughly 120-150 hours of student effort in total.

Required readings

This course is constructed as a return and extension of the observations made in Andrew Leach, What is Architectural History? (Cambridge: Polity, 2010 – available as an e-book via the USyd library). I recommend reading this as a foundation on which the seminar papers and discussions will build. Writing will be circulated ahead of each seminar, week to week. Extension readings will be made available via Canvas.

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes are what students know, understand and are able to do on completion of a unit of study. They are aligned with the University's graduate qualities and are assessed as part of the curriculum.

Outcomes
Graduate qualities

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

LO1. Demonstrate an advanced familiarity with the history of architecture, broadly conceived, and its disciplinary literature.
LO2. Demonstrate an advanced knowledge of a specific theme, geography, body of works or historical period within its broader scope.
LO3. Conduct research using the university library and similar resources to advance knowledge of a specific research question and apply skills to gather and analyse information on architectural works and themes from a range of sources.
LO4. Critique discourse and engage in debate on issues raised in the course.
LO5. Identify and interpret the state of debate and scholarship on defined topics, and understand the role of specific individuals and institutions in shaping knowledge of the history of architecture.
LO6. Demonstrate formal skills in written, verbal and visual communication for both academic and professional settings.

Graduate qualities

The graduate qualities are the qualities and skills that all University of Sydney graduates must demonstrate on successful completion of an award course. As a future Sydney graduate, the set of qualities have been designed to equip you for the contemporary world.

GQ1	Depth of disciplinary expertise Deep disciplinary expertise is the ability to integrate and rigorously apply knowledge, understanding and skills of a recognised discipline defined by scholarly activity, as well as familiarity with evolving practice of the discipline.
GQ2	Critical thinking and problem solving Critical thinking and problem solving are the questioning of ideas, evidence and assumptions in order to propose and evaluate hypotheses or alternative arguments before formulating a conclusion or a solution to an identified problem.
GQ3	Oral and written communication Effective communication, in both oral and written form, is the clear exchange of meaning in a manner that is appropriate to audience and context.
GQ4	Information and digital literacy Information and digital literacy is the ability to locate, interpret, evaluate, manage, adapt, integrate, create and convey information using appropriate resources, tools and strategies.
GQ5	Inventiveness Generating novel ideas and solutions.
GQ6	Cultural competence Cultural Competence is the ability to actively, ethically, respectfully, and successfully engage across and between cultures. In the Australian context, this includes and celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, knowledge systems, and a mature understanding of contemporary issues.
GQ7	Interdisciplinary effectiveness Interdisciplinary effectiveness is the integration and synthesis of multiple viewpoints and practices, working effectively across disciplinary boundaries.
GQ8	Integrated professional, ethical, and personal identity An integrated professional, ethical and personal identity is understanding the interaction between one’s personal and professional selves in an ethical context.
GQ9	Influence Engaging others in a process, idea or vision.

Outcome map

Learning outcomes	Graduate qualities
Learning outcomes

Responding to student feedback

This section outlines changes made to this unit following staff and student reviews.

This is the first time this unit has been offered.

Additional information

Additional costs

The assessment items require students to work closely with a specific edited collection (a list will be provided before week 1). Where books are not available as e-books (reducing the access constraints of the University's physical collection), students may find it preferable to purchase individual titles for private use.

Disclaimer

The University reserves the right to amend units of study or no longer offer certain units, including where there are low enrolment numbers.

To help you understand common terms that we use at the University, we offer an online glossary.

Current students

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Additional information

Additional information

Additional costs

Disclaimer

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