Ecohumanism and the Ecological Culture: The Educational Legacy of Lewis Mumford and Ian McHarg

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Lewis Mumford, one of the most respected public intellectuals of the twentieth century, speaking at a conference on the future environments of North America, said, "In order to secure human survival we must transition from a technological culture to an ecological culture." In Ecohumanism and the Ecological Culture, William Cohen shows how Mumford's conception of an educational philosophy was enacted by Mumford's mentee, Ian McHarg, the renowned landscape architect and regional planner at the University of Pennsylvania. McHarg advanced a new way to achieve an ecological culture―through an educational curriculum based on fusing ecohumanism to the planning and design disciplines. Cohen explores Mumford's important vision of ecohumanism—a synthesis of natural systems ecology with the myriad dimensions of human systems, or human ecology―and how McHarg actually formulated and made that vision happen. He considers the emergence of alternative energy systems and new approaches to planning and community development to achieve these goals.The ecohumanism graduate curriculum should become the basis to train the next generation of planners and designers to lead us into the ecological culture, thereby securing the educational legacy of both Lewis Mumford and Ian McHarg.

Author(s): William J. Cohen, Frederick R. Steiner
Publisher: Temple University Press
Year: 2019

Language: English
Pages: 306
City: Philadelphia

Contents
Foreword: Redesigning the Nature of the Academy, by Frederick R. Steiner
Acknowledgments
Introduction
The Holistic Nature of Ecohumanism
Structure and Organization of the Book
Part I. Pathways to the Ecological Culture
1. Emergence of a Second Enlightenment for the Ecological Culture
A Second Enlightenment: Prerequisite for the Ecological Culture
Closing One Door and Opening Another
Constructing Ecohumanism
2. Planning and Design Perspectives for the Ecological Culture
Interpretations of Nature
The Scientific Field of Ecology
The Human Field of Ecology
Nature and Human Systems
The Environmentalists
Organic and Empirical Traditions
Frederick Law Olmsted (1822–1903)
Ebenezer Howard (1850–1928)
Patrick Geddes (1854–1932)
Lewis Mumford (1895–1990)
Benton MacKaye (1879–1975)
Artur Glikson (1911–1966)
Ian L. McHarg (1920–2001)
3. The Shaping of Lewis Mumford's Ecohumanism
Technics and the Renewal of Life
An Emerging Ecohumanism
Charting a Direction
Mumford's Ecohumanism in Regional Planning
Mumford's Ecohumanism in Education
Part II. Planning and Design: The Fusion of Theory and Practice
4. Ian McHarg's Theory and Method of Ecological Planning and Design
What Kind of Planning?
McHarg's Theory of Ecological Planning
McHarg's Planning Method
5.Design with Nature: Planning Theory and Critiques
The Rejection of Ecological Planning as Normative Planning Theory
The First Critical Reviews of Design with Nature
The Charge of Elitism
Questioning of the Philosophy
An Unsystematic and Incomplete Method
Ignorance of the Ecology of the City
The Need to Incorporate Political and Moral Values
Vague Treatment of Population Growth
The Economic Allocation of Land Resources
Later Critiques
Political Circumstances
Exaggerated Claims of Originality
Dogmatic Adherence to Environmental Determinism
Ecological Inventory or Ecological Planning
The Absence of a Cultural or Human Perspective
Part III. Ecology and Human Ecology in Planning and Design Education: A History of an Interdisciplinary Curriculum, 1936–2000
6. The Academic Environments at Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania, 1936–1968
The Academic Environment at Harvard University, 1936–1950
McHarg's First Teaching Assignments, 1950–1954
McHarg's Early Years at the University of Pennsylvania, 1954–1959
Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning, 1960–1968
"Man and Environment," 1959–1963
Wallace-McHarg Associates, 1963–1964
Developing the Regional Planning Curriculum, 1963–1967
The Institute for Environmental Studies
The Dawning of the Golden Age of Ecological Planning
7. The Ecological Planning Curriculum, 1969–1973
Design with Nature, 1967–1969
Two Pivotal Nonacademic Ventures, 1969–1970
The Ecological Planning Curriculum, 1969–1972
Ecological Planning, Research, Design, and Applied Opportunities, 1970–1973
Center for Ecological Research in Planning and Design: The Medford Study
Design of the Environment Program
Wallace, McHarg, Roberts and Todd, 1965–1973
Changes at the University, 1970–1973
8. The Human Ecological Planning Curriculum Is Established, 1973–1979
The Period of Transition, 1973–1974
The National Institute of Mental Health Grant
Pedagogical and Practical Underpinnings of the Regional Planning Curriculum
An Interdisciplinary Curriculum in a Multidisciplinary World, 1974–1979
Some New Pedagogical Engagements, 1975–1978
Ominous Portents: Cracks in the Mirror, 1978–1979
9. Increasing Disarray and the Loss in Momentum, 1980–1985
Changes outside the University Affecting the Curriculum
Modifying the Pedagogical Statement and Joint Degree Programs, 1981–1985
The 501 Studio: Common Core of the Curriculum, 1981–1984
Losing the Momentum: Dilemma and Change, 1982–1985
10. Phasing Down of the Human Ecological Planning Curriculum and New Directions, 1986–2000
A New Chair and a New Emphasis, 1986–1993
A New Perception: Traditional Strengths and Process, 1994–2000
McHarg's Final Courses and Tribute, 1996–2000
11. A Retrospective Analysis of the Ecological Planning Curriculum
McHarg's Persona
The Interdisciplinary Curriculum
External Factors beyond the University
Part IV. Future Prospects for Education in the Ecological Culture
12. Ecological Planning: Ian McHarg's Legacy in Practice and Education
McHarg's Legacy in Practice
McHarg's Legacy in Education
Future Educational Prospects for Ecological Planning
13. A Future for Ecohumanism and the Ecological Culture: From Technology to Education
The New Normal Science for Technology in the Ecological Culture
Ecohumanism in Planning for the Ecological Culture
Ecohumanism in Design for the Ecological Culture
Ecohumanism in Education for the Ecological Culture
An Ecohumanism Curriculum for the Ecological Culture
Foundational Studies
Planning and Design Studies
Community Development Studies
Project-Specific Practicum or Studio
Selected Bibliography
Index of Names
General Subject Index