This course will run like the humanities equivalent of an architecture design studio in which students can develop processes for producing imaginative solutions to problems that are complex in form, content, and scale. We will focus on the evolution of urban form in light of existing and emerging communication and representation tools and techniques that make it possible to represent change over time and space. These same tools and techniques prompt a new range of art-historical and cultural questions that bring up new disciplinary questions to be covered during the semester. We will explore questions, assemble information, consult specialists, analyze precedents, test techniques, study contexts, generate insights, imagine new worlds, or consider new forms of communication. We will, in addition, be able to rely on the expertise of a GIS Specialist/Developer from the Center for Research Computing’s Spatial Studies Lab [spatialstudieslab.rice.edu] and/or Fondren’s GIS/Data Center who will assist with the visualization needs that course-related projects might require as well as provide tutorials in GIS applications. Graduate students will be required to complete an additional assignment equivalent to an analytical 20 page paper (e.g., create online tools that can aid their dissertations). While the course itself will be contained in one semester, the research projects to be examined and the online tools to be created are likely to exceed the semester’s duration.