Environment & Resource Studies
Selma Hassan, a graduate student in the Department of Environment and Resource Studies and a practicing Landscape Architect, served as a Teaching Assistant in a third year Design Studio during the Fall 1998 term. Her contribution was extremely well received by the third year students. In the Fall 1999 term, Selma was appointed to teach ARCH 124: Introduction to Landscape Design as a replacement for the regular instructor who was away on sabbatical. Working from the existing course outline, she reorganized the entire course, changing the approach from an historical summary to a presentation of a set of clearly articulated views of what landscape is and means. By providing diverse concepts of landscape, Selma “made it abundantly clear that a wide variety of views on landscape exist, that at least some of these were actually in conflict, but that there were rational ways of examining and discussing issues in analysis and design”. A colleague summarized the situation by saying “The students would naturally have expected ARCH 124 to be a well prepared and delivered course, but Selma Hassan brought to it a level of passion and commitment that enriched their academic experience and touched them as human beings”.