Unprecedented Academic Collaboration to Re-envision the Arroyo Seco Begins Today

January 10, 2002 -- “Re-Envisioning the Arroyo Seco Corridor”, an unprecedented collaboration between three institutions of higher education, began today.  Three courses focusing on the Arroyo Seco are being offered at Occidental College, UCLA and Caltech.  These courses, which will examine watershed, transportation, ecological and community building issues affecting the neighborhoods along the Arroyo Seco, include a series of joint activities, discussions and reading materials. 

School

Instructors

Occidental College (Urban and Environmental Policy)

Robert Gottlieb and Marcus Renner

UCLA (Urban Planning and Architecture)

Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris and Richard Weinstein

California Institute of Technology (Division of Humanities and Social Sciences)

William Deverell

The primary focus of the course at Occidental College is policy, focusing on transportation, environmental, watershed and community issues.  Caltech students will examine the history and culture of the Arroyo.  Urban Planning and Architecture graduate students at UCLA will analyze and design, through their Design Studio, a variety of potential improvements that could be part of a re-envisioned Arroyo Seco.

Students from each of the three campuses will have the opportunity to work with the students and faculty from the other campuses.  They will tour the Arroyo and conduct research projects on various aspects of it.  Research topics have been developed as part of the collaborative effort.  Each of the courses also provides a community-based learning framework where the readings, research and course focus will involve direct feedback and connections with community actors and events.

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