Architecture Program Report Tulane University New Orleans ...

3.5. Studio Culture Policy
Tulane architectural studios seek a culture of intellectual diversity,
and a positive and respectful learning environment. What is
exceedingly important, however, is to provide an explanatory
Studio Culture Policy to the students. This document provides
them with the intellectual tools to understand, and therefore benefit
from, the culture of the studio environment.
The values that Tulane finds appropriate are those that encourage
students to learn from positive criticism, and to benefit from the
environment as a whole. In both directions (faculty to student,
student to faculty) respect is a watchword. Because of their studio
environment, students from the School of Architecture are
themselves highly respected among peers and faculty alike across
the University—what we as faculty believe is a result of their studio
experience.
Students are provided with a Studio Culture Policy at the beginning
of First-Year Studio, a policy that is reiterated at the beginning of
each successive year. The document has several sections, which
are as follows:
—Criticism and the role of the faculty in design studio
—Critique formats and the expectations of both students and
faculty
—A general outline of respect for others, in particular as student
and faculty alike both maintain differences as a result of diverse
experiences and value formation.
—This section also speaks to time management, that is, what is an
appropriate ‘matrix’ for both faculty and students to follow.
—Finally, there is an outline of expectations that the student should
fulfill, articulated in practical, intellectual, and ‘spiritual’ terms, as in
following the ‘spirit of the philosophy’ of design studio teaching and
learning.
However, a representative student group has been working on
a Studio Culture Policy for submission to the faculty for
discussion purposes. The ‘sum’ of the two will become the
slated, and formalized, Studio Culture Policy.
Please see section 4.2 of this APR for both the Studio Culture