Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Root Out Route 66 Stories

Mikaela says:
I have a secret hankering to study cultural landscapes. The Community and Regional Planning Program has a specialty in that very subject as part of its Historic Preservation certificate program, as well as a heavy focus as part of the Landscape Architecture program. Too few people know about or take advantage of these totally cool resources.

But if you're interested and just weirded out by planners and/or the School of Architecture and Planning in general, there's hope.

The University of New Mexico, thankfully, has breadth and depth when it comes to studying places. Not only is its anthropology department still world-renown (although slipping a bit in recent years), it's got technology and cultural resource centers hidden in multiple campus nooks and crannies.

This summer, for example, from filmmaker and graduate student Robert Russell is offering a documentary film production course focused on Route 66. Details below.

Personally, I'd like to see this kind of course feature collaboration with cultural landscape historians. How much richer would those films be? Answer: A LOT

How much better would it be for students in planning and historic preservation to be grounded in the visual and learn to tell their stories in media other than boring, dusty, esoteric papers? Answer: A LOT.

How 'bout it, planners and place lovers? Flood that film class! Get your fix... (you know where I'm going here, people) ... on Route 66.


SPECIAL SUMMER PRODUCTION COURSE

MA 216.356 - Highway 66 Revisited: Documenting Contemporary Route 66
Call Number: 08085
Instructor: Robert Russell (robertr@unm.edu)
June 5 - July 14
M/W/F 1-5 p.m.