This is a comprehensive course on the Architecture of the Middle East. We begin our Journey by going as far back in time as possible. We begin by studying the cave dwellings of the Paleolithic people who first settled this region. Next we study the religious site of Gbekli Tepe and the earliest urban site of Catal Huyuk. We then travel to Sumer Ur, Urukand the reed houses of the deltas of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. We then trace the developments in architecture to the Assyrian capitals of Nimrud and Nineveh followed by Babylon. We move to study Persepolis and then to the mysterious and remote capital of the Hittite Empire, Hattusa. We arrive at Hejazi Architecture of Saudi Arabia. And we end with the most iconic ancient architecture of the region, the Tensile Structures of the nomads of the dessert. I teach lecture courses and studios as I wish they would have been taught to me. Much of the graphic material in my lectures is taken or generated first hand directly by me on site. I teach to learn. I teach subjects as I wish they were taught to me. The Mission Statement. Education is a tool for the improvement of successive generations. I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand. ConfuciusThis course is designed under the premise that humans should be taught in a way that is modeled after the educational patterns of evolution. The design, development and application of educational systems based on the educational principles of evolution generates a philosophy and methodology of education in synchrony with the evolutionary education system that is firmly and deeply rooted in each of us. Education for evolution is an educational system designed to help propel humans forward in the natural course of evolution. The purpose of education for evolution is to enhance and strengthen the natural evolutionary process of humans through the mechanism of education. The means to achieve this objective is the design of a curricula based on the same educational techniques and strategies used by natural evolution, enhanced and guided by the application of conscious educational decisions.
