Architectural curriculum at Oberlin has been gaining popularity recently, due in part to the recent hiring of professor Andy Shanken as Oberlin’s first tenure-tracked modern architectural historian, the Clarence Ward Visiting Lectureship in Architectural History Fund, and such newly formed architecture related groups as the Architectural Resources Group of Oberlin and the Oberlin Design Initiative. This is also the first year that the art history department has offered a concentration in architecture.
All of these new architectural programs have allowed students interested in some form of architecture to network and organize. “ARGO is a way of connecting students from different disciplines who are interested in architecture,” art history major and senior Alexa Dunnington, who was one of ARGO’s founders, said.
Currently in the charter process, ARGO plans to coordinate architectural resources on campus and arrange field trips. The charter committee has already begun bringing guest lecturers to campus. The organization also plans to work with the Career Resource Center to help facilitate student internships and post-graduation opportunities. ARGO currently has a listserve with 66 members, allowing students, professors and alumni involved in architecture, as well as a couple of architects not associated with Oberlin, to interact.
The Clarence Ward Visiting Lectureship in Architectural History Fund came out of a gift from Marian Donnelly, class of 1946, who was taught by Clarence Ward at Oberlin. This fund was first used to bring architect Barry Birgdoll this year. Eventually, the Ward Fund may fund an architectural specialist who would teach genres of architechture besides modern architecture, which is Shanken’s focus. This course could be anything from a studio art class to lessons in historic preservation.
The art history department currently offers approximately eight classes devoted solely to architecture. Shanken does not foresee a major or minor in the future. However, Shanken is the advisor for ARGO and sees the group as “a way of creating an easily reproducible independent major.”
ARGO formed as an extension of academic offerings in the field. The Environmental Studies program is also trying to build courses in ecological design, or green architecture, and is offering two classes next spring.