Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: When Ivory Towers Were Black
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 1941
WEBSITE:
CITY:
STATE:
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharon_E._Sutton * http://arch.be.uw.edu/people/sharon-e-sutton/ * http://arch.be.uw.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Sutton.2015.Vita_.pdf * https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-sharon-e-sutton-faia-3b898a9/ * https://www.arch.columbia.edu/books/reader/207-gsapp-conversations-episode-3
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Female.
EDUCATION:Manhattan School of Music, 1959-62; University of Hartford, B.Mus., 1962; Parsons School of Design, 1967-69; Columbia University, M.Arch.; City University of New York, M.Phil., 1981, M.A., Ph.D., 1982.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer, architect, musician, and educator. Columbia University, New York, NY, adjunct assistant professor, 1981-81; University of Cincinnati, assistant professor, 1982-84; University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, associate professor, 1984-94, professor of architecture and urban planning, 1994-97; University of Washington, Seattle, WA, professor of architecture, 1998—, professor emerita of architecture and urban design and professor emerita of social work. Pratt Institute, New York, visiting assistant professor, 1975-81; University of Michigan King Chavez Parks Visiting Professor, 2003; Ohio State University Scholar in Residence, 2003. Sims Varner and Associates, Detroit, MI, project manager and consultant, 1984-90; S. E. Sutton, Architect, New York, 1976-97.
AWARDS:Design Research Recognition Award, National Endowment for the Arts, 1983; Group VII National Fellowship, W. K. Kellogg Foundation, 1986-89; Education Award for teaching the public about planning, American Planning Association, 1991; Regents Award for Distinguished Public Service, University of Michigan, 1982; Distinguished Professor Award, Association of Collegiate Schools of Architechture, 19886; Life Recognition Award, Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame, 1997; Community Service Award, American Institute of Architects, Seattle Chapter, 2005; Whitney M. Young, Jr. Award, American Institute of Architects, 2011; Medal of Honor Award, American Institute of Architects, Seattle Chapter.
WRITINGS
Contributor to books, including Multicultural Teaching in the University, Praeger Press (New York, NY), 1993; The Sex of Architecture, Harry N. Abrams (New York, NY), 1996; Architecture of Fear, Princeton Architectural Press (New York, NY), 1997; The Discipline of Architecture, University of Minnesota Press (Minneapolis, MN), 2002; Architecture: Celebrating the Past, Designing the Future, Visual Reference (New York, NY), 2008; and Space Unveiled, Routledge (New York, NY), 2015.
Contributor to periodicals and journals, including Architectural Record, Journal of the Liturgical Conference, Journal of Architectural Education, Progressive Architecture, Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, Journal of Environmental Psychology, and the American Journal of Community Psychology. Fine art has been shown in numerous exhibitions and is held in permanent gallery and museum collections around the country.
SIDELIGHTS
Sharon Egretta Sutton is a professor emerita at the University of Washington, where she served as a professor of architecture and urban design and as a professor of social work. In her lengthy academic career, she taught at the Pratt Institute, Columbia University, the University of Cincinnati, and the University of Michigan. She holds the distinction of being the “first African American woman in the United States to be promoted to full professor of architecture,” which occurred at the University of Michigan, noted as writer on the University of Washington Website. Sutton holds a B.Mus. from the University of Hartford, an M.Arch. from Columbia University, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in psychology from the City University of New York. She also studied at the Manhattan School of Music and the Parsons School of Design.
A prolific writer and scholar, Sutton has contributed dozens of essays and scholarly papers to journals and periodicals. In her academic work, she focused on “focuses upon youth, community, and social justice, including the career development of minority populations,” commented the University of Washington Website writer.
Sutton’s career was not confined solely to academics. She also worked as an architect both in private practice (1976-97) and with other architectural firms. From 1963 to 1969, she was a performer and professional musician in and around New York, appearing in productions of Man of La Mancha, Fiddler on the Roof, and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. She also performed at Radio City Music Hall and with groups such as the New World Symphony Orchestra.
Sutton is the author of several full-length works covering topics in architecture and urban planning. These include The Paradox of Urban Space: Inequality and Transformation in Marginalized Communities, Weaving a Tapestry of Resistance: The Places, Power, and Poetry of a Sustainable Society, and Learning through the Built Environment: A Ecological Approach to Child Development.
When Ivory Towers Were Black: A Story about Race in America’s Cities and Universities “tells the story of how an unparalleled cohort of ethnic minority students earned degrees from Columbia University’s School of Architecture during a time of fierce struggles to open the ivory tower to ethnic minority students,” noted Mabel O. Wilson on the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation Website. Sutton shows how the experiment in more racially diverse education developed, then eventually fell apart.
Sutton’s focus is on the “experimental education initiative at Columbia University’s School of Architecture that arose out of the school’s 1968 student rebellions,” commented a Publishers Weekly reviewer. She was a student at Columbia during the time period of the book, giving her an insider’s perspective on the events of the day. She also relies on interviews with another twenty-three black or Puerto Rican students who participated in the school’s new academic initiative and who benefited from the program.
The author describes the beginnings of the initiative in a student insurgency on Columbia’s campus. She tells “how thirty or so architecture students occupied the architecture school’s Avery Hall, protesting the racist and expansionist policies of the university,” commented reviewer Annie Coggan, writing on the American Institute of Architects New York Website. The protest was violently broken up, but it served the purpose of giving both students and the Columbia administration the opportunity to look at new ways of providing education. Academic freedom and experimentation were the norm, giving Sutton and her fellow students unprecedented opportunities to learn.
Eventually, the radical change in curriculum and teaching style was reversed, which coincided with a new political attitude of conservatism in America, exemplified by the election of Richard Nixon as president. Throughout the book, “Sutton’s prose is luscious and lively,” Coggan remarked.
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Publishers Weekly, December 12, 2016, review of When Ivory Towers Were Black: A Story About Race in America’s Cities and Universities, p. 136.
The Chronicle of Higher Education, May 26, 2017, review of When Ivory Towers Were Black, p. A33.
ONLINE
American Institute of Architects New York Website, https://main.aiany.org (October 22, 2017), Annie Coggan, review of When Ivory Towers Were Black.
Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation Website, http://www.arch.columbia.edu/ (October 22, 2017), Mabel O. Wilson, interview with Sharon Sutton.
University of Washington Architecture Department Website, http://arch.be.uw.edu/ (October 22, 2017), biography of Sharon Egretta Sutton.
University of Washington Website, http://www.uw.edu/ (October 22, 2017), curriculum vitae of Sharon Egretta Sutton.
3
of 39
University of Washington Department of Architecture208P Gould Hall Box 355720 Seattle, Washington 98195-5720Telephone 206.685.3361 Fax 206.616.4992 Cell 206.383.6052E-mail sesut@u.washington.eduWebsite http://faculty.washington.edu/sesut/Internet ceeds.caup.washington.eduSharon E. Sutton, PhD, FAIAWork HistoryAcademic1998-Pres University of Washington in SeattleCollege of Architecture and Urban PlanningProfessor of Architecture with TenureProfessor of Urban Design and PlanningAdjunct Professor of Landscape ArchitectureAdjunct Professor of Social Work; Member Social Welfare Doctoral FacultyDirector, Center for Environment Education and Design Studies 2014 University of in Colorado—DenverGraduate Faculty in Design and Planning 2003 University of Michigan King Chávez Parks Visiting ProfessorThe Ohio State University Scholar in Residence1984-1997 University of Michigan in Ann ArborCollege of Architecture and Urban Planning1994-1997 Professor of Architecture and Urban Planning with Tenure1989-1997 Founding Director, The Urban Network: An Urban Design Program for Youth 1987-1994 Associate Professor of Architecture with Tenure1984-1987 Associate Professor of Architecture without Tenure1982-1984 University of Cincinnati in OhioCollege of Design Art Architecture and PlanningAssistant Professor of Architecture and Interior Design1981-1982 Columbia University in New York CityGraduate School of Architecture Planning and PreservationAdjunct Assistant Professor of Architecture and PlanningTeam Teaching with Robert A.M. Stern1975-1981 Pratt Institute in New York CitySchool of Architecture Visiting Assistant Professor of DesignGeneral InformationGeneral InformationSharon E. Sutton, PhD, FAIA • Curriculum Vita Revised 26 August 2015 1
ArchitectLicensed in the States of New York (1976) and Washington (2002)Previously Licensed in Michigan, New Jersey, and OhioCertified by the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards1976-1997 S. E. Sutton, ArchitectNew York City and Dexter, Michigan1984-1990 Sims Varner and Associates in DetroitProject Manager and Consultant1970-1976 ApprenticeshipKouzmanoff and Associates Architects in New York CityStudio di Architettura Forte in Florence, ItalyMitchell/Giurgola Associates Architects in PhiladelphiaBond Ryder and Associates Architects in New York CityMusicianFormer member of Local 802 American Federation of Musicians afl- cio1963-1969 Man of La ManchaPerformed with the Original Cast and on the Original Cast AlbumSol Hurok AttractionsOrchestras of the Bolshoi, Royal, Leningrad, and Moiseiyev Ballet CompaniesYoung Audiences, Inc.Performed at Public Schools throughout New York CityFree LanceAppearances with Fiddler on the Roof, AFunny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Radio City Music Hall, New World Symphony Orchestra, Music Makers, and the Phoenix Woodwind Quintet among OthersHigher Education1976-1982 City University of New York Environmental Psychology Program 1982 Master of Arts and PhD in Psychology 1981 Master of Philosophy1969-1973 Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation 1973 Master of Architecture1967-1969 Parsons School of Design Department of Interior DesignTransferred to Columbia University1962-1963 University of Hartford Hartt College of Music 1963 Bachelor of Music (French Horn)1959-1962 Manhattan School of Music, Studied with Gunther SchullerTransferred to Hartt CollegeGeneral InformationSharon E. Sutton, PhD, FAIA • Curriculum Vita Revised 26 August 2015 2
Continuing Education1995-Pres American Institute of ArchitectsMandatory Continuing Education System1986-Pres W.K. Kellogg FoundationLeadership Development Conferences and Seminars1970-2013 Art Studio InternshipsSev Shoon in Seattle (Collagraph, Photolithography)Lawrence Barker Studio in Barcelona, Spain (Papermaking)Printmaking Workshop in New York City (Intaglio)Studio di Santa Reparata in Florence, Italy (Intaglio)Selected Honors and Awards 2014 American Institute of Architects,Seattle ChapterMedal of Honor Award 2011 American Institute of ArchitectsWhitney M. Young, Jr. Award 2006 University of Washington Graduate SchoolLandolt Distinguished Graduate Mentor Award Honorable Mention 2005 American Institute of Architects, Seattle ChapterCommunity Service Award 1999 Jeannette and David McKinley FellowshipFaculty Research Support 1997 Michigan Women’s Hall of FameLife Recognition Award 1996 Association of Collegiate Schools of ArchitectureDistinguished Professor Award 1995 American Institute of ArchitectsElevation to Fellowship 1992 University of MichiganRegents Award for Distinguished Public Service 1991 American Planning AssociationEducation Award for Teaching the Public about Planning 1989 UM School of Business AdministrationFirst Round Award, National Zell Lurie Fellowship1986-1989 W.K. Kellogg FoundationGroup VII National Fellowship 1983 National Endowment for the ArtsDesign Research Recognition AwardGeneral InformationSharon E. Sutton, PhD, FAIA • Inhouse Curriculum Vita Revised 20 April 2014 3
Sponsored Research and Demonstration Projects2006-Pres Forty Years after the Insurrection: A Study of African American and Puerto Rican Students at Columbia University's School of Architecture, 1964-1973Principal Investigator (Archival Research, Data Analysis, and Writing) 2008 CEEDS—Creating a Farm-based Education Center on Lummi Island, WADesigned and Facilitated Youth and Adult Charrettes Led by CAUP Student Volunteers.Funding Common Threads Farm ($2,500)2004-2006 CEEDS—Constructing a Social Justice Framework for Youth and Community ServicePrincipal Investigator with Susan P. Kemp and Jeff Hou (University of Washington), Lorraine Guiterréz (University of Michigan), Susan Saegert (City University of New York), and Michael Conn (Girl Scouts of the USA).Funding The Ford Foundation ($365,000) 2004 CEEDS—Research Roundtable on Social Justice at the Ford FoundationCo-principal Investigator with Shawn A. Ginwright (Santa Clara University)Funding The Ford Foundation ($9,600)2001-2003 CEEDS—Ecolab Installation at Thorndyke Elementary SchoolDeveloped Design Curriculum for Grades 1-5; Installed in Collaboration with CAUP Student Volunteers, Thorndyke Volunteers, and McHegg Design + Build Funding Tukwila School District2000-2001 CEEDS—Public Art Installation at Tukwila Elementary SchoolConducted Needs Assessment; Installed by the Public Art CurriculumFunding Tukwila School District1999-2000 CEEDS—Build-a-School Community Case Study in TukwilaFunding Tukwila School DistrictUniversity of WashingtonScholarly and Creative WorkBiographical ListingsWho’s Who in the World, Who’s Who in America, Who's Who in American Education, Who’s Who in Science and Engineering, Who’s Who of American Women, Who’s Who Among Black Americans, Who’s Who in the Midwest, Who's Who of Emerging Leaders in AmericaScholarly and Creative WorkSharon E. Sutton, PhD, FAIA • Curriculum Vita Revised 26 August 2015 4
Interdisciplinary Scholarship 2010 Investigation of an Ideal Model of a Sustainable University CampusHost Professor and Adviser for Visiting Scholar, Dr. Sanghong Lee2009-2010 Comparative Study of Architecture Education in the United States and KoreaHost Professor and Adviser for Visiting Scholar, Dr. Jin-Wook Kim2005-2007 Reclaiming ChildhoodCore member (with Project Director Katharyne Mitchell and others)Funding Simpson Center for the Humanities2003-2004 Society for Community Research and ActionDivision 27 of the American Psychological AssociationInvited Working Conference Participation (with Susan P. Kemp)Funding Robert Wood Johnson FoundationVanderbilt University 2003 Scholar in Residence at Ohio State UniversityProvided Sessions on Placemaking across DisciplinesFacilitated Intergenerational Visioning Sessions for a Homeless ShelterFunding Ohio State University1991-1996 UM Program on Conflict Management AlternativesCore Faculty Member; Co-chair Bi-monthly Faculty SeminarsFunding William and Flora Hewlett Foundation1993-1994UM University Seminar on Urban AffairsParticipantFunding University of Michigan1991-1993 Development of a Feminist Practice CertificateParticipant, Faculty GroupFunding University of Michigan1989-1990 Minority Research ForumAdvisory Committee Member and Forum FacilitatorFunding University of MichiganScholarly and Creative WorkSharon E. Sutton, PhD, FAIA • Curriculum Vita Revised 26 August 2015 6
Service Activities 2008 Steve Badanes Howard S. Wright Endowed ChairFive-year Review Committee Member1998-2000 Interdisciplinary PhD Program in Urban Design and PlanningAdvisory Group Member1998-1999 College-wide PhD Program Development CommitteeMemberArchitecture 2014-Pres M.Arch Admissions Committee (2+ Program)Member2008-2010 Curriculum CommitteeProfessional Practice Coordinator2008-2009 M.Arch Admissions CommitteeMember2008-2009 Tenure Promotion Merit Review CommitteeMember2007-2008 Accreditation Visit CommitteeMember 2001 Tenure Promotion Merit Review CommitteeMember1999-2000 Strategic Planning Work GroupMemberAcademic Service—University of Michigan Partial List1994-1997 Center for the Education of WomenFaculty Worklife Study, Adviser1992-1997 Vice President for University RelationsCommunity-Service Learning Task Force, Member, 1989-1992 Rackham Graduate School Executive BoardMember Elected University-wide1994-1997 College of Architecture & Urban Planning Executive CommitteeRegentially Appointed Member1996-1997 College of Architecture & Urban Planning1985-1986 Dean Search Committees, Member1994-1995 PhD Program in ArchitectureEnvironment and Behavior ConcentrationCoordinator and Advisory Committee Member Sharon E. Sutton, PhD, FAIA • Curriculum Vita Revised 26 August 2015 38
Dr. Sharon E. Sutton, FAIA
3rd degree connection3rd
Professor Emerita at the University of Washington
University of Washington City University of New York
New York, New York 500+ 500+ connections
Send InMail
Media (1)This position has 1 media
2004.DignityofResistance(IA)Frame
2004.DignityofResistance(IA)Frame
This media is an image
See less See less of Dr. Sharon E.’s summary
Experience
University of Washington
Professor Emerita of Architecture and Urban Design, Adjunct Professor Emerita of Social Work
Company NameUniversity of Washington
Dates Employed1998 – Present Employment Duration19 yrs
LocationNew York City
Graduate and Undergraduate Studios (Architectural Design)
Graduate Seminars (Professional Practice; Thesis Research)
Doctoral Student Supervision (Built Environments; Social Welfare)
Media (1)This position has 1 media
2010.CrossinginAutumn'sHeat(A)Frame
2010.CrossinginAutumn'sHeat(A)Frame
This media is an image
University of Washington Center for Environment Education and Design Studies
Director
Company NameUniversity of Washington Center for Environment Education and Design Studies
Dates Employed1998 – Present Employment Duration19 yrs
Community-based Research and Outreach
American Institute of Architects
Member
Company NameAmerican Institute of Architects
Dates Employed1984 – 2016 Employment Duration32 yrs
City University of New York
Alumna
Company NameCity University of New York
Dates Employed1982 – 2016 Employment Duration34 yrs
AIA Seattle
FAIA
Company NameAIA Seattle
Dates Employed1983 – 2015 Employment Duration32 yrs
AIA Seattle
FAIA
Company NameAIA Seattle
Dates Employed1983 – 2015 Employment Duration32 yrs
Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation
Alumna
Company NameColumbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation
Dates Employed1973 – 2015 Employment Duration42 yrs
Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation
Alumna
Company NameColumbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation
Dates Employed1973 – 2015 Employment Duration42 yrs
Brooklyn College Community Partnership
Co-design Facilitator
Company NameBrooklyn College Community Partnership
Dates Employed2014 – 2014 Employment Durationless than a year
University of Michigan College of Architecture and Urban Planning
Associate Professor and Professor
Company NameUniversity of Michigan College of Architecture and Urban Planning
Dates Employed1984 – 1997 Employment Duration13 yrs
Graduate and Undergraduate Studios (Architectural Design; Urban Planning)
Graduate and Undergraduate Seminars (Environment and Behavior; Social Responsibility)
Doctoral Student Supervision (Architecture; Urban Planning)
University of Cincinnati School of Architecture and Interior Design
Assistant Professor
Company NameUniversity of Cincinnati School of Architecture and Interior Design
Dates EmployedSep 1982 – Aug 1984 Employment Duration2 yrs
LocationCincinnati, Ohio
Taught undergraduate design studios, drawing, and thesis research.
New York City
Free Lance Musician
Company NameNew York City
Dates EmployedAug 1963 – Aug 1968 Employment Duration5 yrs 1 mo
I worked for Sol Hurok Attractions, playing French horn in the orchestras of the Bolshoi Ballet, Royal Ballet, Leningrad Ballet, and Moiseiyev Ballet Companies. I also played about 1,000 performances of Man of La Mancha and recorded the original cast album. In addition, I appeared in Fiddler on the Roof, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Radio City Music Hall, New World Symphony Orchestra, Music Makers, and the Phoenix Woodwind Quintet among others.
See fewer positions
Education
City University of New York
City University of New York
Degree Name PhD Field Of Study Psychology
Dates attended or expected graduation 1976 – 1982
Hunter College, Master of Arts Degree, 1982.
City University of New York, Masters Degree, Philosophy, 1981.
Columbia University, Masters Degree, Architecture, 1973.
University of Hartford, Bachelors Degree, Music, 1963.
Media (1)This position has 1 media
2010.CrossinginWinter'sStorm(A)Frame
2010.CrossinginWinter'sStorm(A)Frame
This media is an image
Columbia University - Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation
Columbia University - Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation
Degree Name Master of Architecture (MArch) Field Of Study Architecture
Dates attended or expected graduation 1968 – 1973
University of Hartford Hartt College of Music
University of Hartford Hartt College of Music
Degree Name Bachelor of Music (BMusic) Field Of Study French Horn
Dates attended or expected graduation 1962 – 1963
Transferred from the Manhattan School of Music (1959-1962); Studied with Gunther Schuller
Volunteer Experience
Seattle Design Commission
Member
Company NameSeattle Design Commission
The following text is an edited transcript of GSAPP Conversations Episode #3, a podcast produced by Columbia GSAPP's Office of Communications and Events in collaboration with ArchDaily.
Columbia GSAPP Associate Professor Mabel O. Wilson (M.Arch '91) speaks with Sharon Sutton (M.Arch '73) about the publication of her new book, When Ivory Towers Were Black, which tells the story of how an unparalleled cohort of ethnic minority students earned degrees from Columbia University’s School of Architecture during a time of fierce struggles to open the ivory tower to ethnic minority students. A book launch and discussion was held at Columbia GSAPP on February 23, 2017.
Contents
1
A Community-based Approach to Teaching
2
A Curriculum for Social Justice
3
Teaching Ethical Responsibility
4
The Dual Fronts of Gender and Ethnicity
MABEL WILSON: I'm Mabel Wilson, a professor at Columbia GSAPP and the director of Global Africa Lab, as well as a research fellow at the Institute of African-American Studies, and I'm speaking today with Sharon Sutton about her new book, When Ivory Towers Were Black.
Sharon received her Master of Architecture degree from Columbia in 1973. She now teaches architecture, urban design, and social work at the University of Washington as Professor Emeritus.
In her book she tells the story of a cohort of African-American students who came to Columbia during a period of active recruitment of minority students. This effort was a response to the civil rights protests and student rebellions on campus and across the country during the late 1960s, although the initiative would unravel here at Columbia just a few years later.
So we are speaking in advance of a public book launch taking place here at Columbia GSAPP on February 23rd, when we will be joined by Professor Reinhold Martin who directs Columbia's Buell Center, and New York State Senator Bill Perkins, whose District 30 includes Harlem, East Harlem, Morningside Heights where Columbia's main campus and the School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation is located.
1
A COMMUNITY-BASED APPROACH TO TEACHING
MABEL WILSON: Welcome, Sharon, and thanks for taking the time to speak with me today.
SHARON SUTTON: Thanks for having me.
WILSON: I wanted to start with what led you to write about this topic, which seems very personal, but also quite historical.
SUTTON: So that's actually the story in the prologue. I should say you have to get the book to find out. But I'll give you the short version, which is that shortly after my sixty-fifth birthday I began to reflect and think: So much of my life - which has been quite incredible in terms of the opportunities that I've had, the things I've been able to participate in and contribute to - really comes to this Ivy League education that I got serendipitously because there was a civil rights movement.
And since that time, since I've been a professor, which is 41 years, I maybe have had 12 black students. So I have this huge sense of how special that situation was when I was a student at Columbia. And I wanted to somehow give back that privilege that I got.
And so I went through a whole series of how I could do that, which is described in the prologue. But ultimately I came to the conclusion that I would write a book about it. And as it turns out, as I researched the book, the story that I had assumed to be true was not exactly the story. And as I continued working in Butler Library [at Columbia University], I began to uncover a very different story and to realize how much of my teaching approach came from that time at Columbia.
WILSON: Can you tell us a little bit more about what was unique at that moment, particularly coming out of the civil rights movement, but also you have the rise of black nationalism, there was the assassination of King, the Poor People's Campaign. It seems like there was a clear linkage that rights also had to do with access to health, to housing in particular. And so - what was it that was unique that was asking architecture and architectural education to perhaps change its methods and approaches?
SUTTON: Well, it was a unique time. In addition to all of the things that you mentioned, there was a great fear of a racial Armageddon with all of the riots. So people were very motivated to solve the problem. And the problem was an urban one, and so educating people in the city, making professions, was very important.
So it was really out of fear that the opportunity was created. And it was created by the Ford Foundation actually long before the famous student rebellion that closed the university down, which I had assumed had been the primary reason that I was here was that part of the student negotiations was that there would be recruitment of black and Puerto Rican students.
WILSON: Can you name the year of that?
SUTTON: That was 1968. It was April of '68, and the University was closed until the following fall.
And what really made the education unique was the commitment of the people who were recruited, but also the revolutionaries who were here, to address the problems in Harlem. And that was part of the Black Power movement. For earlier generations of well-to-do black students or students who got scholarships into universities, the idea was to sort of distance yourself from the working class blacks. But that group of Black Power advocates saw themselves as educating and being part of the black community.
And so there was a tremendous push to work in the Harlem community, and that's what so shaped my approach to teaching, which is a community-based approach to teaching which I had never really totally thought about. I had always attributed it to being at Michigan, at the University of Michigan, because Michigan is the place where the Peace Corps started and it has a very strong community-service learning approach. And so I thought, "Oh, that's where it came from." But as I began to learn more about the curriculum at the School of Architecture at Columbia during that time, I realized that this is where it came into my mind that what architecture is about, what planning is about, is improving the surroundings of your campus.
WILSON: And how did the numbers swell?
SUTTON: You know, you have to read the book! All of this is so beautifully told in the book.
But it was quite an ingenious snowball effort. I'm debating what I'm going to read from the book at the book launch. And one of the passages I'm considering is the passage about the snowball, about one person telling another person. It did not happen by accident. It happened with a very concerted effort, especially on the part of the black students who were here and the Puerto Rican students, but it was also the administration who were calling people, who were just out and about getting everyone to come to this one place. And the money was here to support people.
Basically I think if I continue studying this, that it will remain the boldest recruitment effort ever. And my proof of that assumption is that as of 2007, Columbia had produced more black architects than any other school except the historically black schools. They have at this point been exceeded by City College and Pratt because the effort fell off and the other schools began working on it.
WILSON: I think that's a very important milestone that you wouldn't necessarily associated with an Ivy League at all. But it sounds like there was a storming of the gates.
SUTTON: There was a storming of the gates. And the talent that was produced is remarkable. As of today, that group of students now has five Fellows in the American Institute of Architects. And there are only about 100 African-American Fellows in the whole College of Fellows. So that's an incredible accomplishment. Five out of 100 came from that class!
2
A CURRICULUM FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE
WILSON: Yeah, I think that's a real milestone. I think what's amazing about the book is the emphasis on the questions of social justice, which seems really, really kind of critical. Can you just give a hint at what you think the institutional changes were by raising the question of social justice? And do you think there is a current need for institutional recalibration around issues of social justice?
SUTTON: Well, social justice in this case is occurring on two levels: the one is opening up the elite professions to historically marginalized students; the other is using institutional resources to improve historically marginalized populations. And again, that has been my life agenda that I didn't realize came from this effort.
But how it worked is that by reconsidering the admissions criteria, the School of Architecture, now known as GSAPP, was able to admit students who had other kinds of experiences. They were actually quite qualified but probably wouldn't get in today. They had gone to technical high schools. They had gone to community colleges. They had worked in offices. And it was an undergraduate degree.
And so they were able to get in, get their Ivy League credential, and then move up another ladder. So that, with the economic support, allowed people to attend who cannot attend today - the students that have been missing from my classes.
On the other level, there was this transformation of the curriculum primarily led by the Division of Planning. Another thing I didn't realize: Why Planning? Because Charles Abrams was here, and Charles Abrams was a social justice advocate. He was a housing activist. And he created the Institute of Environment to do community outreach. There was Ford Foundation money that supported that and allowed another program to develop that actually was doing development in the Harlem and East Harlem communities. They were doing projects and the students were staffing those projects. They were being a source of assignments in the studio.
So there were a number of different ways that the school was providing its resources to develop the Harlem community. So those two levels were working together.
WILSON: And how do you think Columbia responded to that change? Were there long-term initiatives that existed after the cohort left?
SUTTON: It was heartbreaking. I graduated in '73 and the commencement address was basically what it is today. “We're going to make America great again.” You know, “we're going to make Columbia what it used to be.” And so that was the message that we got going out - the president said, "Students today are looking for a calmer campus. They don't want all of this angst going on, and we're going to replant the lawns and we're going to have the way - we're going to have it again."
And the School of Architecture was actually a leader in all of the changes that were made university-wide. They had, in addition to social work, one of the most active recruitment programs. As much maligned as the current dean was, who was Dean Smith, he was seen by the people who were encouraging recruitment, the Urban Center, as being a leader on campus in the recruitment effort.
But there was always a split in the faculty. If you look at the faculty votes, there would be a certain number of people who would vote for, against, and then the people who didn't vote. And as time went on and the students graduated who led the rebellion - and actually, you know, when you experiment, if you're not really committed to making experiential learning work, community-based learning is very difficult. And so if you're not developing those skills and willing to put in the extra time, the education is going to deteriorate.
And the education deteriorated. And the accrediting board came and, you know, threatened. And the dean resigned and the new dean came in and fixed the school and did what he had to do “to make it be great again.”
WILSON: So it sounds like what you're saying is that because architecture is a very - although you could say law is very similar, there's a clear connection between the profession and the discipline and what's taught in law school, for example. And so clearly architecture as a profession, the same with medical schools, all the professional schools, journalism - they all have this very, very clear connection.
But it sounds like there was something quite resistant in a way in architecture to the question of really contending with social justice, even though both planning and architecture deal very specifically with the built environment - which is fraught with inequalities.
SUTTON: Right.
WILSON: And that this was an important opportunity to start to open up and transform how everyone in fact is being educated.
SUTTON: Right. Well, and how the urban problem is being addressed. And you know, this was also the year of Whitney Young's famous speech at the AIA. There was activism going on in the planning association. So there was a level of activism that was going on at the professional level that was in support of this local thing that happened that very much benefited what was going on in the school.
In particular there were scholarships nationally that came into the school. But there was backlash from the society. Nixon came in with a law and order campaign. And people got tired of - you know, it was not only the Columbia students - people got tired of all of the angst of trying to make society be more equitable. It wasn't pleasant.
WILSON: You mean there had to be sacrifices.
SUTTON: There had to be sacrifices. And so, you know, Nixon came in and showed all of these pictures and started talking about welfare cheats and stirred up a lot of fear about black people in the ghetto. In the meantime, there had been a lot of rioting that went on, and people were being swept up in the law and order campaign, soon to be revisited. And that's when all the people began to be swept into prison who were rioting.
And the same youth who were so inspiring in an earlier generation, who really had led the civil rights movement and the black student movement - I don't know what happened to them. I guess the more elite of the group went and got an education. And then people got left behind. Because really it was the black community that became fractured. And so you had no black community. What was left in the black community were the people who had no choice and who couldn't get out and somehow lost hope.
WILSON: I think that's an important point about the criminalization of people who were merely fighting for better lives, and that that can be detrimental. And you could see this especially across the ranks of radicals, and very few bounce back. One person I can think of is Angela Davis, for example, who through her educational interest is teaching and still engaged in social justice issues. And who gave a lecture here at GSAPP a couple years ago.
SUTTON: Oh, really?
WILSON: She sure did.
SUTTON: Great.
WILSON: But she's connecting these issues to global issues. But on that note, you know, the '60s, the so-called inner city, the ghetto, and you could say that it was Harlem and Hamilton Heights and Washington Heights, which clearly surround Columbia, are rapidly gentrifying as Columbia is the agent in Manhattanville.
3
TEACHING ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITY
WILSON: But as we said, issues pertaining to poverty, health, and housing persist. And as you spoke of there's the wrath of the prison industrial complex. How and what should we be teaching our students today based on your experience as a student at Columbia?
SUTTON: Right. Oh, gosh! You know, I think it's a real dilemma because we have an obligation to teach students to join their field. And their field serves capitalism, which is doing the displacement. And so how do you have this kind of almost schizophrenic education where you're teaching them the skills and ways of being that will perpetuate the problem while you're also trying to teach them to undo the problem?
I mean, I think that you have to talk very plain and open about it and have discussions such as the one that was here right after the inauguration [The First 100 Days]. And I was very comforted to hear the Master of Architecture students get up and propose a code of ethics and actually I sent them some things that they should add to their code of ethics. I think that's one way to get at it, that we have to give them the skills, but we have to make them aware of their ethical obligation. It's not about making money. It's about serving a society.
And I would say the same thing is true of the faculty, that what is the ethical code of the faculty is not to get research grants. And so this whole threat of, you know, if we become sanctuary campuses we won't get our NIH funding. We somehow have to say, "What are our values? And what won't we - what can't we give in on?"
And then there is, I think especially in architecture, is learning the skills to serve - you know, expanding the definition of design, expanding the definition of architecture so that you have the skills to serve the many, the billions of poorly housed people. What are the solutions to shelter that you can help people figure out?
So the big, flashy projects that they need to have in their portfolios to get that job, somehow we have to empower them to do the other kinds of projects as showing a different kind of skill and to be able to package that as a marketable skill.
WILSON: Yeah. I think that that's a really great way of summing up the kind of range of things that we need to think about as we educate the next generation of architects and planners and preservationists, and even real estate developers who are also part of the school.
SUTTON: Right, yes.
WILSON: And that these are all kind of linked, and many of the students are actually doing dual degrees. They'll do preservation and architecture, planning and real estate development. So it's interesting to see, for example, urban design and real estate development. They're seeing in their own work the necessity to be able to work on many different levels, but also it sounds like what you're saying is they need to kind of recalibrate to think of society on multiple levels. And that you're not just working for wealthy clients, but that you should think about the broad spectrum of who you must engage.
SUTTON: And I think the discussion of how you can make a living at this has to be really intense. It began to happen during the recession because people were pushed to the wall, so the whole public architecture and 1 percent for architecture began to be a very - the College of Fellows funded a study of how people were funding pro bono work, how people were staying afloat and doing pro bono work.
And there are models. One of my colleagues, Mike Pyatok, did a presentation in my class. His expertise is affordable housing. And he had a consultant come into his office, which was in Berkeley, about ten years ago who said, "You're going to go out of business. You're doing good work, but you're going to go out of business," and advised him to do a combined practice of market rate and affordable housing. And he said the benefit of that was that he was no longer asking people who were committed to affordable housing to work for peanuts, plus they were learning something by doing the two different kinds of housing. So I think that there are strategies that we can inform students of, and then we can create them.
WILSON: But it sounds like one of the emerging challenges that wasn't necessarily there perhaps in the '60s - and maybe it did begin with Nixon - is the kind of disinvestment of the state, and actually engaging in its own society and the care of its own society, and sort of moving that toward the private sector so that it can in some respects be partially profitable. And that seems to be kind of one of the outcomes of the last 40 or 50 years.
SUTTON: Yes, definitely the outcome. And housing cannot be for-profit. It has to be shelter.
WILSON: It should be a right.
SUTTON: It should be a right. Right. I mean, health care - it makes a lot of profit, but you don't talk about it as a … I guess it is a business. But somehow you have to give services if somebody walks in and needs it.
WILSON: Yeah. And pronounce housing as a right.
SUTTON: Yeah.
4
THE DUAL FRONTS OF GENDER AND ETHNICITY
WILSON: And can you tell us a little bit more about questions around gender and how that might have impacted your own career, and also your own educational experiences, especially as an African-American woman in architecture.
SUTTON: In architecture.
WILSON: Which meant you were fighting on dual fronts. You were fighting the kind of gender front, but you were also fighting around questions of race and ethnicity.
SUTTON: The gender issue was more difficult and I did not develop my gender awareness at Columbia because it was a guy group. When the boys went off and established NOMA [National Organization of Minority Architects], it broke my heart, and I've never joined NOMA because I never got over it - that all my colleagues went and did something and didn't invite me.
So the gender awareness was a problem at Columbia. I was originally a musician, so I grew up learning to be one of the boys. And I continued that mode of behavior here at Columbia because it was necessary. So it didn't really happen.
And the women's movement happened at the end. So it was more in the '70s that the gender awareness came. And a group led by Susana Torre was my first gender awareness, and becoming part of the women's group here in New York who were organizing to promote women's work. There was an exhibition related to a book that Susana edited called Women in American Architecture that was at the Brooklyn Museum. And that was the first awakening of mine.
I recall when Susana called me on the telephone and she said, "We would like to include your work in the book." And I said, "Oh, I don't have any work." And she said, "Yes, you do."
We would get together and we called ourselves, I think, The Pinks. The reason being that we concluded about the only thing that we could do about women and the environment - and again, we were thinking on these two levels: how do you get more women, and how do you make better environments for women - that probably the most we could do would be to get $25 and paint the door pink.
But I have a list of - it's very old - it's a manifesto with a list of things we wanted to try to achieve. And most of the things on that list - that must have been from about 1977 - have been achieved, like having restrooms that men can take children into. That was on the list.
WILSON: Wow! Yeah. So there has been progress.
SUTTON: There has been progress.
WILSON: So with the new book, can you just give us a summary of why should someone read it?
SUTTON: Well, I think it's absolutely frightening the parallels between then and now, and so it's very informative. If you don't know your history, you're going to repeat it. So I think people need to know this history. And there are some real concrete things that happened that could be repeated today that you could do that. So I think it has lessons for today, and it also contextualizes the current problem.
WILSON: Thank you, Sharon.
Sharon Egretta Sutton
Professor Emeritus
Dr. Sharon E. Sutton, FAIA has been an architecture educator since 1975, having held positions at Pratt Institute, Columbia University, the University of Cincinnati, and the University of Michigan where she became the first African American woman in the United States to be promoted to full professor of architecture. Sutton teaches community-based undergraduate and graduate design studios and offers seminars in professional practice and architecture research methods.
The author of numerous books, book chapters, reports, and articles, Sutton’s research focuses upon youth, community, and social justice, including the career development of minority populations. Currently, she is studying the life histories of the ethnic minority students who were recruited to Columbia University’s School of Architecture during the Civil Rights Movement. Sutton’s most recent book, co-edited with Susan P. Kemp, is entitled The Paradox of Urban Space (Palgrave, 2011). Through a series of case studies, it demonstrates the importance of place as a site of oppression and transformation. Her co-authored monograph, Urban Youth Programs in America (UW, 2006), describes what low-income and minority youth contribute to community development; another book, Weaving a Tapestry of Resistance (Westport, 1996), is based upon a three-year evaluation of a K-12 design education program she founded while at the University of Michigan.
Sutton’s research has been funded by the Ford Foundation, W. K. Kellogg Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Aspen Institute, Tukwila School District, University of Michigan, University of Washington, Vanderbilt University, and the Washington State Department of Transportation. She is a frequent distinguished lecturer at colleges and universities, and has keynoted professional conferences in art, architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, planning, and psychology.
Formerly a Kellogg National Fellow as well as a Danforth Fellow, Sutton has degrees in music, architecture, psychology, and philosophy, all earned in New York City. She is a Fellow in the American Institute of Architects, a Distinguished Professor of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, an inductee in the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame, and a recipient of the AIA Whitney Young Jr. Award. Her fine art has been exhibited in and collected by galleries and museums, business enterprises, colleges and universities, and the Library of Congress. Sutton previously practiced architecture in New York City, once performed in the orchestras of the Bolshoi, Leningrad, Royal and other ballet companies, and has played in the orchestras of such Broadway hits as Man of La Mancha, Fiddler on the Roof, and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. She is currently assistant chair of the Virginia Mason Citizens Advisory Committee and was formerly chair of the Capital Hill Design Review Board.
Sharon E. Sutton
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dr. Sharon Egretta Sutton (born 1941 in Cincinnati, Ohio) is professor emerita of architecture, urban design and planning, and social work at the University of Washington, where she served on the faculty 1998–2016. She became an architecture educator in 1975, having taught at Pratt Institute, Columbia University, the University of Cincinnati, and the University of Michigan where she became the first African American woman to become a full professor in an accredited architectural degree program.[1]
Sutton was educated initially in music, studying French horn with Gunther Schuller at the Manhattan School of Music and latter at the University of Hartford. After earning a B.Music in 1963, she worked as a professional musician in New York City, most notably for Sol Hurok Attractions and in the original cast of Man of La Mancha. In 1967, Sutton enrolled in Parsons School of Design and then Columbia University, where she was mentored by J. Max Bond, Jr. She earned her M.Arch. in 1973 and opened a private practice in 1976. In 1981, Sutton received her MA in psychology from Hunter College; in 1982, she received her M.Phil and Ph.D. in psychology from the City University of New York.
Sutton's focus is community-based participatory research and design with a special emphasis on low-income and minority youth and other disenfranchised populations. Her research has been funded by the Ford Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Hewlett Foundation, Tukwila School District, the University of Michigan, and University of Washington, among others.
Sutton is author of "When Ivory Towers Were Black: A Story about Race in America's Cities and Universities"[2]; Weaving a Tapestry of Resistance: The Places, Power and Poetry of a Sustainable Society[3]; and Learning through the Built Environment[4]. Additionally, she is author of numerous book chapters and journal articles, and is co-editor of The Paradox of Urban Space: Inequality and Transformation in Marginalized Communities[5].
Sutton is also a noted printmaker and collagist having studied graphic art in independent studios internationally. Her work has been exhibited in and collected by galleries and museums, business enterprises, colleges, and universities, and is part of the Robert Blackburn Collection at the Library of Congress.
A registered architect, Sutton was the twelfth African American woman to be licensed to practice architecture (1976), the first to be promoted to full professor of architecture (1994), and the second to be elected a Fellow in the American Institute of Architects (1995). The ACSA (Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture) honored Sutton with the ACSA Distinguished Professor Award in 1995-96.[6] Sutton received the "Life Recognition Award" from the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame in 1997 and the national American Institute of Architects Whitney M. Young, Jr., Award in 2011. In 2014 and 2017 respectively, she received the AIA Seattle Medial of Honor and the AIA New York Medal of Honor, the highest awards chapters can confer.
Dedicated to improving the living environments of disenfranchised populations, Sutton is currently ethnographic consultant to design studio instructors at Parsons School of Design.
Books[edit]
Sutton, Sharon E., "When Ivory Towers Were Black: A Story about Race in America's Cities and Universities," Fordham University Press, New York, 2017. ISBN 978-0-823-27612-7
Sutton, Sharon E., and Kemp, Susan P., editors, The Paradox of Urban Space: Inequality and Transformation in Marginalized Communities, Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2011 ISBN 978-0-230-10391-7
Sutton, Sharon E., Weaving a Tapestry of Resistance: The Places, Power and Poetry of a Sustainable Society, Bergin and Garvey Publishers, Westport, 1996.
Sutton, Sharon E., Learning through the Built Environment: An Ecological Approach to Child Development, Irvington Press, New York, 1985.
When Ivory Towers Were Black: A Story About
Race in America's Cities and Universities
Publishers Weekly.
263.51 (Dec. 12, 2016): p136.
COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
When Ivory Towers Were Black: A Story About Race in America's Cities and Universities
Sharon Egretta Sutton. Fordham Univ., $35
(280p) ISBN 978-0-8232-7612-7
Loosely framing this work as a case study on institutional transformation, Sutton, a professor of architecture and urban
design at the University of Washington, examines the development and unraveling of an experimental education
initiative at Columbia University's School of Architecture that arose out of the school's 1968 student rebellions, aimed
at recruiting of minority students and transforming the school's curriculum into "humanistic, justice-oriented"
education. Sutton leads the way through the "murky waters of (institutional] transformation" that occurred between
1968 and 1976, following an "evolutionary arc that begins with an unsettling effort to eliminate the exercise of
authoritarian power on campus and in the community, and ends with an equally unsettling return to the status quo."
Sutton follows the stories of 24 black and Puerto Rican students, including herself, who attended Columbia during this
period. The detailed account of the intra- and interdepartmental quarrels often lapses into tiresome institutional history,
and Sutton's excessive use of the second person hinders the immediacy inherent to her personal experiences and the
historical events she lived through. The recollections of the alumni that infuse and inform the text, nevertheless, give
the book value as an oral history. (Mar.)
Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
"When Ivory Towers Were Black: A Story About Race in America's Cities and Universities." Publishers Weekly, 12
Dec. 2016, p. 136. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA475225095&it=r&asid=a4162ef70e63b4d91b3ae7b5022d22d8.
Accessed 1 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A475225095
10/1/2017 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1506883795283 2/2
When Ivory Towers Were Black: A Story About
Race in America's Cities and Universities
The Chronicle of Higher Education.
63.37 (May 26, 2017): pA33.
COPYRIGHT 2017 Chronicle of Higher Education, Inc.
http://chronicle.com/section/About-the-Chronicle/83
Full Text:
When Ivory Towers Were Black: A Story About Race in America's Cities and Universities, by Sharon Egretta Sutton
(Fordham University Press; 312 pages; $35). Draws on oral histories from 24 alumni in a study of a program that
recruited minority students at Columbia University's School of Architecture in the late 1960s and early '70s.
Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
"When Ivory Towers Were Black: A Story About Race in America's Cities and Universities." The Chronicle of Higher
Education, 26 May 2017, p. A33. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA496567319&it=r&asid=8606cc612edf32bf1cfa7f5c81eb652a.
Accessed 1 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A496567319
Oculus Book Review: When Ivory Towers Were Black by Sharon E. Sutton
CHAPTER NEWS by ANNIE COGGAN • 03/09
Dr. Sharon Egrette Sutton’s recent book, When Ivory Towers Were Black, is a three-pronged exploration of the cultural, educational, and personal events surrounding the 1968 student insurgency on the Columbia University campus. Sutton describes her experience as a minority student after the insurrection and tells the tale of Columbia before and after. During her Oculus Book Talk lecture on 02.13.17 at the Center of Architecture, Sutton explained that, unlike today, when diversity aspiration ally seen as a way to balance and improve communities, in 1968, the fight against racism and efforts towards creating diverse academic communities were issues of national security. The summer of 1968 numbered 163 racial confrontations in the inner cities of the US. The Ivy League was about to become ground zero for change.
Sutton’s chapter on the student insurgency covers how thirty or so architecture students occupied the architecture school’s Avery Hall, protesting the racist and expansionist policies of the university. The breaking up of the occupation was a shocking, violent event. The Avery insurgents, who had been conceptualizing a new approach to architectural education during the sit-in, became fully radicalized. The Columbia University insurgency uncoupled the educational value system that the hallowed Columbia halls had maintained and, as a result, the architecture curriculum exploded. When outdoor “teach-ins” organically grew out of the Strike Coordinating Committee boycott of classes held inside Columbia buildings, a new way to learn became possible. Sutton carefully describes the “platform” curriculum for the architecture school, the one she walked into in 1970.
Sutton, along with her 56 minority peers, experienced a climate of academic freedom and experimentation during her time studying architecture. Students looked to the adjacent Harlem community for inspiration and moral guidance. Columbia’s community-based Architects Renewal Committee of Harlem (ARCH) is a fascinating precursor to the design/build Rural Studio program at Auburn University; Columbia University was at the forefront of social justice design challenges and advances.
Sadly, after an accreditation body found fault with the university’s structural problems in general, this curriculum revolution ended, as did the architecture school’s mandate to recruit minority students. Sutton records a finite moment of moral clarity and invention in architectural education.
Sutton digs deeply into a discussion of the academic administrative machinations, but it takes a particular mind to follow all the slights and injustices that an academic environment can bring forth. This section is not as strong as her narrative of the insurgency and its major players. James Stewart Polshek comes off as a young man trying to maintain authority rather than an insightful leader during his time as Dean of GSAPP, and other administrators are hard to distinguish in the narrative. The aftermath of the curriculum revolution coincides with Nixon’s election, and a law and order mandate shifts the tone of academia – chilling in light of our current political climate.
Sutton’s prose is luscious and lively; the first paragraph of the introduction is a captivating prophecy of an institution breaking down and its will to rebuild for the good. Her multitude of voices, however, sometimes confuse her narrative. At times, her almost Shakespearian intimacy with the audience is at odds with her polished, academically rigorous tone that pervades the interviews and much of the text.
But ultimately, Sutton sets out a clear road map of the historical framework that these 50 or so students of color found themselves in, a road map where diversity and community inclusion is how one practices architecture and is a citizen of the world.
Event: Oculus Book Talk: When Ivory Towers Were Black: A Story about Race in America’s Cities and Universities
Location: Center for Architecture, 02.13.17
Speakers: Dr. Sharon Egretta Sutton, FAIA, Professor Emerita of Architecture and Design, University of Washington; Carol Loewenson, FAIA, LEED AP, Partner, Mitchell | Giurgola Architects
Organized by: AIANY Oculus Committee
Comments are closed.