IT'S A GE CLASS!!!! HE NEEDS TO GET DOWN FROM HIS HIGH HORSE AND NOT GIVE OUT C'S FOR HARD WORKING STUDENTS!!! To get an A it appears that you must attend all of his office ours, not know anything about engineering, and just know how to creatively "synthesize" philosophical ideas about noteworthy pieces of architecture.

Warning: his grading philosophy is strict. When you get your midterms back Osman will say that you shouldn't question the amount of points he's given you. If you decide to challenge for more points, he said "You are challenging my authority. By asking for a re-grade I'll be in a worse mood than when I was first grading your exam and therefore, you will receive a lower score." Just warning you all about this :(

I found the second half of the class more interesting than the first, since the topics are less abstract. Osman himself is a great lecturer, who is so brilliant that the subject matter can become a little confusing, especially his analysis of the images in his slides.

I am selling my notes on the whole class for $12, and my reading responses for $1 each. These notes are comprehensive, and if you use them you will probably get an A in this class. Text me at ********** if you are interested. Thanks!

Great lecturer. Helpful tip that i noticed: mostly south campus major struggle with this class. Creativity is key for succeeding on his exams. Good luck!

Where is my grade?

Osman is the professor listed on the course, but Prof. Svehla was actually the class lecturer. Her lecture was very engaging and covered board topics and perspectives on many themes of architecture, for example, the grid, power, nature, and labor. I gained a unique perspective from this class that I would never regret taking; this is such a great introductory course for architecture and urban design. The course was very structured with readings, reading comments, weekly assignments, midterm, and final. However, during my quarter, the final was optional due to the TA strike. Because of a very structured class, you are expected to keep up with all the lectures and assignments. The lectures in this class were very dense, and you could miss a lot if you did not attend because the lessons were not recorded. Even though the last three weeks of the class were canceled due to the strike, I was disappointed that I could not gain the complete lessons from this course. Nevertheless, I was grateful that I decided to take this class. This is a fascinating GE with an understandable workload. I enjoyed taking this class and would recommend it to anyone interested in architecture and urban design.

I took this course during my first quarter here, because it sounded like an interesting GE to take.

The exact scope of the course is difficult to define. Every lecture (and the readings that accompany it) is focused on a specific abstract concept and its relation to architecture. The readings are highly diverse and can get quite abstract; this is where the lectures come in. Professor Osman is a tremendous lecturer, equal parts insightful and humorous. More than once I was befuddled by a reading only to have it perfectly explained by Osman in the next lecture.

Each week, you will have to write a brief (approximately one page) reading response. I found these slightly arduous, and they require you to be very concise, but they became easier as the quarter went on.

The midterm and final are very straightforward. If you understand the concepts introduced in the lectures, you are unlikely to run into trouble.

Overall, this is an interesting GE to take. The readings can seem quite confusing and dense at times, and they are not typically quick. But Osman’s tremendous lectures clear it all up and make for a fun course.

ARCH&UD 30 is your typical class of lecture slide and readings responses. Professor Michael Osman is very engaged in teaching and he is very passionate about every single details of the class. Sometimes it might feel fragmented as Osman switches topics constantly, but if you like architecture, I can assure that you find no problem to overcome.

The biggest problem with this class is how it is FULLY dependant to your TA, it does not matter how good you are in lecture, if your TA doesn't like your writing style, you are screwed. We submit a reading response weekly which contributes to a large proportion of your grade. Readings varies, interesting or full. Some TAs are more oriented to responses as some are to analysis. Make sure you know what your TA wants.

Reading response is your key to get good at this class, I am selling my reading response for $5 each to let you take reference. You can use them to get a good concept on what the readings are about. Feel free to contact ********** if you are interested.

I should note that I am not an architecture major and have never taken an architecture class before. Dr.Osman was funny, well known on the material, and honestly incredibly helpful. There are weekly reading responses that depend ENTIRELY on your TA. My TA originally gave me a 7 out of 10, which I took to another TA and said she would have given me a 9/10 instead. So be careful with your TA I switched after one week and it was the best decision I could have made. Maryam was an AMAZING TA. The midterm and final are both structured the same way. 1 question will show you two random slides which you have to name the date, who made it, what it is, and be able to analyze them. Another question will give you two paragraphs of separate readings and again you have to name them and analyze them. The last is showing a picture and text. It's quite difficult but at the begining of lecture he goes over the main slides from previous lecture (those tend to be on the exams). There are no textbooks he uploads the readings and you need to do them for your weekly responses. I am selling my notes that I used to study on both the readings and the lecture. I was able to get an A using these notes so let me know if you'd like them **********

Took this as a GE after dropping out of two other classes (so i joined this class after two weeks) but i loved the decision. Professor Osman is a very engaging, caring, interactive, fun lecturer. Although there is a lot of reading to do in this class, eventually you learn how to skim and read and note only the important stuff. Sometimes he would go off topic (which wasn't always a bad thing) and if that meant he rushed through the last few slides, he ensured to brief them the next lecture. I would highly recommend anyone who id ready to put in a little effort to take this class. His midterm and final is not very difficult if you know your main important slides. He is not bent on failing students, rather will make sure he picks the most important, lengthy discussed slide so everyone has some idea even if they blank out.
His midterm and final cover completely different portions so even if the first half of the class is a little difficult, you can easily catch up in the second half. we have to submit weekly reading reviews that need not be very long (my TA wanted exactly one page,double spaces, point 12) and is not very difficult. you also dont HAVE to do all.

overall the only thing not satisfactory about this class was that sometimes the readings were posted a little late (especially at the end of the class near thanksgiving break) so i could not go through them when i has planned to earlier in the week. Other than that, make sure you have a good understanding with your TA and it is an amazing class.