Note: For the complete list of classes available each term, please visit the UO Class Schedule. For current or prospective students wishing to see more detailed course descriptions or syllabi, you can find that information on the Current Students blog.
Not all courses are offered every term. Consult the UO Catalog for the most up-to-date information about course offerings and requirements. It contains complete details for all academic programs offered by the university. Whether you’re an enrolled student or you're considering attending the UO, the catalog will provide information that helps you determine your academic path.
Design Studios
LA 289 Landscape Architectural Design
6 Credits
Study of places, their use, and how they evolve. Fundamentals of environmental awareness, social factors, and small-scale site design; abstract design and elementary graphic techniques. Repeatable.
LA 439/539 Landscape Architectural Design and Process
6 Credits
Intermediate problems in landscape architecture design. Relations among problem concepts, goals, design theory, communication media, and technical analysis. Repeatable four times for a total of 30 credits. Prerequisite: LA 289.
LA 489/589 Site Planning and Design
6 Credits
Advanced problems in landscape architecture, cultural determinants of site planning and design, design development and natural systems and processes as indicators of carrying capacity. Repeatable. Prerequisite: LA 362, LA 366, LA 439.
LA 494/594 Land Planning and Design
6 Credits
Problems in landscape architecture of increased cultural complexity. Land use planning, computer-aided ecological analysis of land, environmental impact, urban and new community design. Prerequisite: LA 489; fifth-year standing for undergraduates.
Technologies
LA 362 Landscape Technologies I—Grading
4 Credits
Develops understanding of contours, contour manipulation, and site engineering methodologies in the design of places; fundamentals of inclusive design, storm water management, earthwork, and design development. Prerequisite: LA 361.
LA 366 Landscape Technologies II—Site Construction
4 Credits
Consideration of aesthetic and engineering properties of materials and processes of landscape construction; communication of design intent through documentation including sources and costs. Prerequisite: LA 362.
LA 410/510 Professional Practice
LA 417/517 Computer-Aided Landscape Design
2–4 Credits
Understanding and use of computer-aided drafting and design technology for executing landscape design development, evaluation, and presentation tasks. Prerequisite: LA 289 or 389.
Plants
LA 326 Plants Fall
4 Credits
Characteristics, identification, and design uses of deciduous trees, shrubs, vines, and ground covers. Emphasis on identification and appropriate use in landscape design.
LA 327 Plants Winter
4 Credits
Characteristics, identification, and design uses of ornamental conifers and broad-leaved evergreen trees, shrubs, and ground covers. Prerequisite: LA 326.
LA 328 Plants Spring
4 Credits
Characteristics, identification, and design uses of flowering trees, shrubs, vines, and ground covers; emphasis on synthesizing learning from fall, winter, and spring.
LA 390 Urban Farm
4 Credits
Experimentation with food production in the city; rebuilding urban soils; farm animal-plant relationships; and nutrient cycles. Cooperative food production and distribution; use of appropriate technologies. Repeatable.
Landscape Analysis and Planning
LA 199 Design for a Sustainable World
4 Credits
Case-based course that examines what it means to design sustainable systems, landscapes, buildings, policies and products.
LA 337 Landscape Field Work
1–4 Credits
Direct examination and appraisal of the function, form, content, and composition of example landscapes in relation to ecological, cultural, legal, technical, aesthetic, and economic objectives. Repeatable.
LA 410/510 Urban Sustainability
4 Credits
A road map toward sustainable urban planning and design through interdisciplinary perspectives. Partnering with the City of Eugene, explore Eugene’s sustainability actions and work on action research projects throughout the term.
LA 410/510 Sustainable Design Principles and Practices
4 Credits
Team-project course that examines what it means to design sustainable systems from economic, environmental and social aspects.
LA 413/513 Analyzing Landscape Systems
4 Credits
Develops skills for collecting data and understanding how landscapes function in space and time to inform good decision-making in planning and design. Prerequisite: one course in geography, biology, or environmental studies.
LA 415/515 Computers in Landscape Architecture
4 Credits
Development, application, and evaluation of computer systems for land use and site planning (e.g., geographic information systems); encoding of data, cell storage, and analysis systems. Prerequisite: LA 440/540. Repeatable.
LA 440/540 Introduction to Landscape Planning Analysis
4 Credits
Principles of designing landscapes and waterscapes for human use and settlement. Ecological, social, and economic analyses of landscapes, resources, and patterns of occupancy in the Eugene-Springfield area. Prerequisite: LA 361.
LA 441/541 Principles of Applied Ecology
2–6 Credits
Application of ecological concepts to landscape design, planning, and management. Emphasis on spatially explicit problem-solving over a range of spatial and temporal scales. Prerequisite for 441: one course in ecology; Prerequisite for 541: one course in the natural sciences.
LA 465/565 Landscape Ecology
4 Credits
Links concepts and applications of landscape ecology through extensive field experiences that develop a deep understanding of a specific landscape or a set of issues. Prerequisite: LA 441/541.
History, Literature, and Theory
LA 227 Introduction to Landscape Architecture
2 Credits
Exploring the background and scope of the profession: its history, ethics, goals, skills, topics, achievements, and evolving challenges in making healthy, functional, and beautiful places.
LA 260 Understanding Landscapes
4 Credits
Perception, description, and explanation of landscapes as environmental sets, as biophysical processes, and as cultural values.
LA 407/507 Landscape Architecture Theory
4 Credits
Contemporary design ideas situated in their historic precedents and theories, using those intellectual roots as a means of reading, understanding and critiquing contemporary practice.
LA 407/507 Overlook Field School Seminar
2 Credits
Seminar which explores an annual theme related to productive landscapes and prepares students for the Overlook Field School in summer.
LA 410/510 History of Landscape Architecture I, II
4 Credits Each
Learn about the history of landscape architectural design and how to interpret contemporary designed landscapes.
LA 410/510 Civic Agriculture
4 Credits
Students will identify—and contribute to the actual development and enhancement of—the complex set of constituents and recognized tactics which are required to create and maintain a socially responsible local food system.
LA 410/510 Landscape Architecture and Aesthetics
2 Credits
Seminar that aims to clarify design’s often ambiguous engagement with the discipline of aesthetics from the 18th century to the present.
LA 410/510 Ways of Knowing
4 Credits
LA 607 Seminar
1–5 Credits
LA 617 Introduction to Landscape Architecture Theory
4 Credits
Survey and critique of the theoretical frameworks for landscape architecture.
Landscape Architectural Media
LA 350 Landscape Media
2–4 Credits
Development of freehand drawing and visualization skills; exercises about line, tone, texture, and color for plan, section, and perspective drawings. Repeatable.
LA 352 Digital Landscape Media
2–4 Credits
Introductory survey and skill development in a range of basic computer graphic tools used in landscape architecture. Includes image processing, computer drawing, modeling, and drafting. Prerequisite: LA 350. Repeatable.
LA 408/508 Advanced Digital Media
LA 410/510 Data Visualization
4 Credits
Students will learn how to transform data into effective visual representations that can be used as exploratory and analytical tools as well as communication means.
LA 450/550 Advanced Landscape Media
4 Credits
The role of media in design inquiry; development of hard-line drawing skills, diagramming, and principles of graphic design. Repeatable.
LA 608 Workshop
1–16 Credits
Media and Technologies Workshops
LA 408/508 Workshop
1–21 Credits
Concentrated programs of study on special topics. Regular offerings include Fire Ecology and Management, Landscape Design. Repeatable.
LA 459/559 3D Mapping with LiDAR
2 Credits
Introduces students the basic principles of LiDAR, LiDAR sensors, platforms, data collections, data processing, and analysis.
LA 459/559 Sustainable Energy Landscapes
Explore design and planning strategies for maximizing energy performance of landscapes from sites to regional scales while minimizing social, ecological, and economic conflicts.
LA 459/559 Water, Sanitation, and Health
2 Credits
Examines how various water and sanitation systems (infrastructures and technologies) can both positively and negatively impact public health.
LA 459/559 Writing for Designers
2 Credits
Workshop that aims to improve skills and develop confidence in written communication in the context of professional design practice.
Comprehensive Project (BLA)
LA 490 Comprehensive Project Preparation
3 Credits
Finding, describing, programming, and probing environmental opportunities and problems.
LA 499 Comprehensive Project
8 Credits
Advanced planning and design projects in landscape architecture. Studio development of individually selected projects. Prerequisite: LA 490.
Research (Graduate only)
LA 601 Research Proposal Development
2 Credits
Preparation and presentation of the student's terminal research and design project proposal and plan for completion of the master's degree in landscape architecture.
LA 620 Landscape Research Methods I
2-4 Credits
Contemporary research issues and strategies. Theories, approaches, and techniques applicable to topics and problems in landscape architecture. Sequence with LA 621.
LA 621 Landscape Research Methods II
2-4 Credits
Contemporary research issues and strategies. Theories, approaches, and techniques applicable to topics and problems in landscape architecture. Sequence with LA 620. Prerequisite: LA 620.
LA 699 Master's Project
2-10 Credits
Student-directed and executed performance and communication of original research or project work to demonstrate advanced mastery of landscape architecture. Repeatable.