Examines themes in the history of design, with emphasis on Euro-American theory and practice in their global contexts. Addresses the historical design of communications, objects, and environments as meaningful processes of decision-making, adaptation, and innovation. Critically assesses the dynamic interaction of design with politics, economics, technology, and culture in the past and at present. 

Examines themes in the history of design, with emphasis on Euro-American theory and practice in their global contexts. Addresses the historical design of communications, objects, and environments as meaningful processes of decision-making, adaptation, and innovation. Critically assesses the dynamic interaction of design with politics, economics, technology, and culture in the past and at present. 

Introduces fundamental design principles as a way to demystify design and provide a basic introduction to all aspects of the process. Stimulates creativity, abstract thinking, representation, iteration, and design development. Equips students with skills to have more effective communication with designers, and develops their ability to apply the foundations of design to any discipline.

Introduces fundamental design principles as a way to demystify design and provide a basic introduction to all aspects of the process. Stimulates creativity, abstract thinking, representation, iteration, and design development. Equips students with skills to have more effective communication with designers, and develops their ability to apply the foundations of design to any discipline.

This course introduces artistic practice and critical visual thinking through studio-based projects that explore diverse media, scales, and contexts. Through hands-on experimentation, perceptual games, and creative exercises, students activate their artistic curiosity—reimagining materials, objects, and everyday environments. Projects may incorporate sculptural construction, drawing and painting, weaving, performance, theater-based methods, sound and video, and/or site-specific interventions. Studio practice is complemented by lectures, screenings, field trips, readings, guest presentations, and discussions that examine the historical, cultural, and environmental forces shaping both the development of artistic vision and the reception of a work of art. Project themes such as Body Extensions / Embodied Knowledge, Public Making / Collaborative Practices, and Networked Cultres / Interdisciplinary Exchanges invite students to develop an expansive, interdisciplinary approach to art-making. Each project culminates in a final presentation and group critique. 

MIT Certificate Protected Syllabus

This course offers a wide review of the history of Islamic architecture, tracing fifteen centuries of development across three continents — Asia, Africa, and Europe. Beginning with the House of the Prophet in Medina in the 7th century and culminating with the skyline of contemporary Dubai, the course presents architecture as both a material record and a cultural expression of the historical conditions in which Islam was formed, practiced, and continually reinterpreted.

Each session centers on a city, monument, or building type, while keeping sight of the larger narrative that links diverse regions and periods into a coherent story.  Lectures analyze form, construction techniques, materials, style, ornament, and decoration, as well as the social, religious, political, and cultural frameworks that shaped architectural production.  Particular emphasis is placed on the role of patronage and on the ways architecture served as a stage for identity, power, and community.

Cross-cultural exchanges are examined throughout, from the absorption of Late Antique traditions in early Islam to encounters with the West during the colonial and postcolonial eras. The course concludes by exploring the revival and reinvention of Islamic architecture in the modern age of nation-building, globalization, and rapid urban development.

MIT Certificate Protected Syllabus

4.603 UG / 4.604 G

Examines modern architecture, art, and design in the context of the political, economic, aesthetic, and cultural changes that occurred in the twentieth century. Presents foundational debates about social and technological aspects of modern architecture and the continuation of those debates into contemporary architecture. Incorporates varied techniques of historical and theoretical analysis to interpret exemplary objects, buildings, and cities of modernity.

Additional work required of students taking the graduate version.

MIT Certificate Protected Syllabus

Introduction to the history and interpretation of western art in a global context that explores painting, graphic arts and sculpture from the 15th century to the present. Engages diverse methodological perspectives to examine changing conceptions of art and the artist, and to investigate the plural meaning of artworks within the larger contexts of culture and history.

MIT Certificate Protected Syllabus

Introduces fundamental design principles as a way to demystify design and provide a basic introduction to all aspects of the process. Stimulates creativity, abstract thinking, representation, iteration, and design development. Equips students with skills to have more effective communication with designers, and develops their ability to apply the foundations of design to any discipline.

Introduces fundamental design principles as a way to demystify design and provide a basic introduction to all aspects of the process. Stimulates creativity, abstract thinking, representation, iteration, and design development. Equips students with skills to have more effective communication with designers, and develops their ability to apply the foundations of design to any discipline.