TRAN-511A: Tran Histories & Futures 1

This important three-term course will fulfill several crucial learning outcomes necessary for students' successful development throughout the program and then as incisive practitioners. First, this course will expose students to a history of transportation over the ages (particularly but not exclusively) from the beginning of the industrial revolution. Through critical analysis of important and seminal literature, students will become familiar with and opiniated on the mutual intersections between transportation, society, industry, politics, economics, technology and our environment. Having a clear grasp of transportation's role or response to all the above, will help students to extrapolate into the future, which is our professional endpoint. Second, through the process of reading, writing and discussing these histories and futures, students will build self-confidence in their critical analysis capabilities, and consequentially develop their persuasive writing skills. The latter will be essential for the successful completion of Thesis Reports. Third, the course will build upon students' understanding of the human condition in the built environment by exploring the intersections found there within: ethnographies, equities, patterns, cultures, communities, policies, histories, visions and more. Students will conduct field trips with their faculty to witness and experience some of the syllabus' topics.