Comparative history of how two great cities were transformed from pre-modern to modern; focus on architecture and design as well as politics, economics, and culture; emergence of new ideas about the very concept of "the city."
4
UnitsOptional
Grading1, 2, 3
PasstimeNot open to freshmen
Level LimitLetters and science
CollegeSuch an interesting class, I always looked forward to coming to lecture (which is rare). Professor Wittman is so knowledgeable and passionate which made the class very intriguing. Class is made up of 4 things, attendance, 1 midterm, 1 final (non cumulative), and an in person essay. Relatively simple as long as you show up and pay attention!
If you take this for just an easy credit don't do it lol I made that mistake, he's so passionate and kind but be aware you need to memorize EVERYTHING! 60 seconds for random buildings, you must know all aspects and read the things he assigns. Essays can be a bit hard & heavily graded, lectures are a bit messy but he's a very cool professor :) fyi
His midterm and final were extremely difficult for me, though I admit these are partially due to my own shortcomings. His midterm and final are based on terms and you're given 60 seconds to recognize and identify all information on them (date, architect, name of structure, location, etc). I did not have fun in this class but it was interesting.
Professor Wittman is nice and helpful if you can reach him (which is not easy). His lectures were often unorganized & unclear. His tests are tough, and he expects you to know everything he says in class. There was no clear grading or layout to the class, & there were many administrative errors during the semester that were crucial for your grade.
Must go to lectures, lots of readings outside of class but not needed at all. Only a couple papers and midterms for the grade. The midterms are super memorization heavy. Lectures can be boring some days or really interesting on others, depends what he is teaching that day.
Only graded by two papers and midterm+final so no real homework. There are short readings outside of class but I never did a single one. The material is not easy and there is a lot of memorization, but it was really easy for me to pay attention since he's such a passionate and interesting guy. Will go out of my way to take a class with him again.