Pratt Institute faculty members have launched a petitionaimed at reversing proposed cuts to contact hours for the Humanities and Media Studies Department’s Architecture Writing Program (AWP).
The AWP’s goal is to strengthen the critical thinking capacities of Pratt architecture students. Writing workshops and course readings introduce students to the humanities and are meant to help them better articulate their designs in the studio.
Instructors affirm that the AWP is important for counteracting AI in the classroom, as more architecture students lean on AI for writing assignments. The AWP is also majorly beneficial for students whose first language is not English, faculty note. Pratt School of Architecture students conduct research in coursework in a dedicated reading room that opened in 2023. The space in the basement of Higgins Hall holds the William “Bill” Menking Book Collection, the library of AN’s cofounder and longtime editor-in-chief.
The provost office at Pratt first proposed cuts to AWP contact hours in the 2024 academic year, according to Cameron Crawford, AWP faculty. Professors started pushing back against the cuts that summer. The administration again floated the cuts earlier this year.
Casey Mack, AWP faculty, told AN that professors met with the administration in early April, however the administration refused to make concessions. Mack said he and AWP faculty members will continue to fight the cuts.