Frank A. Mills
Remember the Owl in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland? Alice sought the Owl because she had heard that he had The Answer. When she found him she said, "It is said that you alone have The Answer." The Owl replied, "My friend, as much as is said about me is trie." So Alice asked the Owl her question. He answered carefully, "You must find out for yourself." Alice replied angrily, "Did I need the Owl to tell me I must think for myself?" "But, my friend," the Owl replied, "That is The Answer!" My teaching methodology is not to give answers to but how to answers, but to learn how to ask the right questions, and to see gleanings of answers in the question. "We learn more by looking for the answer to a question and not finding it than we do from learning the answer itself (Lloyd Alexander, American author of children's fantasy)."
This Page: Urban & General Seminars
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Urban Paradoxes— In this seminar we become the flâneur -- "the idle man-about-town" -- to learn how both our imagination and urban "symbols" play an important role in demonstrating that everyday life has particular value when it takes place in the gaps of larger contexts. In this course we will stroll about on foot, learning to see and examine that which we often miss on the everyday landscape; using our observations to frame questions pertinent to cultural evolution and vitality. [2-3 day seminar]
Walkshops— Urban drifts ("WalkShops")that intersect/puncture everyday urban practice while participating in gaps of the larger context to explore symbolic values common to the urban experience. [A one-day interactive version of the "Urban Paradoxes" seminar.]
Politics & Space— This seminar examines from the perspective of critical social theory the relationship between politics and the use of space as it relates to architecture, urban planning, and public art; in particular its creation of discursive discourses and practices.
Gentrification: Its effects on Neighborhoods— This seminar examines the process of gentrification and its positive and negative effects on neighborhoods. It explores ways socio-economic factors play into gentrification, the language of gentrification, and the assumption that gentrification always produces negative effects. Lastly, the seminar looks at the ethics of The New Urbanism, "Urban Husbandry," and alternative urban planning methodologies to examine the claim that these schools of urban planning reduce neighborhood disruption caused by gentrification.
Life on the Fringe: An Examination of Urban Fringe Culture— This seminar explores how urban fringe cultures, those "hidden communities" with the greater urban context, come into existence, their lifespan, and contribution to the urban experience, both positively and negatively. For this seminar, an "urban fringe culture" is any sub-culture (lifestyle, ethnic, art, etc.) that exists at least partially outside the "urban norm."
Urban Puncture: Art & the Urban Experience— This seminar explores, with hands-on practice, how public-spatial art punctures (or might puncture) our everyday movements across the urban landscape and how the intersection of art and the urban experience relates to a city's well being. In this seminar we explore (1) how spatial art punctures, or intersects with, the urban experience, (2))the interactive discourse between the public, the artist, and the artwork and (3) how that interaction heightens symbolic values common to the urban experience. Lastly, the seminar offers an opportunity to create public spatial art that flows from the student's own interests and creativity.
Street Level Culture— This seminar examines culture, in the context of urban neighborhoods, as a network of social institutions and relationships; in particular it examines how humans relate to the social, physical and natural environments and seeks to interpret urban artifacts, events, neighborhood behaviors as products of cultural, economic, and social processes.
Neighborhood Well-being— This seminar examines the various analytics and techniques that might be used for neighborhood diagnostic evaluation. As part of the seminar, students will be afforded the opportunity to conduct onsite evaluation in urban neighborhoods.
The Hyper Age: A Culture Changing Culture— The Hyper Age is the first time in history that an individual cultural age has had the ability to significantly reframe existing cultures in a way that does not synergize with that culture, as well as to create new ones. This is also the first time in history that information transfers so fast that its context is left behind. This seminar examines the roots of the Hyper Age and how it is in itself simultaneously a coherent culture and multiple cultures ("Information Age," "Technological Age," "Information Technology Age," etc.) and how it changes existing cultures and creates new ones. We will also examine the inherent problems in labeling a culture an "Age," and an "Age" a "culture." Lastly we explore the contribution of the Hyper Age to the creation of "conflicting realities."
The Role of Shared Neighborhood Vision in Preservation— All too often in our zeal to preserve the historical significance of neighborhoods we overlook the negative and positive impact of preservation upon the neighborhood in question, and in so doing often create both neighborhood ill will and unnecessary difficulties for ourselves. This session explores how to create a shared neighborhood vision for historic preservation.
Historic Preservation and Neighborhood Impact— We often forget that historic neighborhood preservation has a lasting impact upon future neighborhood sustainability. This session explores the necessity of the impact study as part of the preservation process, ways to assess the impact of historic preservation, and potential impacts upon future neighborhood sustainability. We will also examine methodologies that position historic preservation as a partner in future neighborhood sustainability.