Twelve Missouri S&T students spent two weeks last month exploring Chicago to learn about the city and its architecture through a two-week course in the Windy City.

“There’s no better place to learn about the history of modern architecture than Chicago, and there’s no better way to experience architecture than in person,” says Dr. Jeff Schramm, associate professor of history at Missouri S&T who taught the two-week course, “Chicago: Architecture, Technology, Culture.”

Schramm and the students, all architectural engineering or civil engineering majors, stayed on the campus of Roosevelt University May 15-27. From that starting point, the group toured “buildings, structures, parks, museums, historic homes, and other places and spaces.” They explored the Chicago History Museum; the Glessner House, designed by architect Henry Hobson Richardson; Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s Edith Farnsworth House; Millennium Park; and Tribune Tower. They also traveled via Chicago’s public transit system to visit places like architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s home and studio in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois, and Wright’s Frederick C. Robie House near the University of Chicago campus.

Schramm previously taught the course in 2016 and 2018. He connected with Missouri S&T alumni now living and working in Chicago to arrange tours of Cannon Design, where 2022 architectural and civil engineering graduate Sophie Holle works, and the recently renovated Tribune Tower, through the help of 2015 architectural engineering graduate Tom Laudadio.

“As a bonus, the class rang the closing bell at the Chicago Board Options Exchange – a great opportunity for the students and a history lesson, too,” Schramm says. “Chicago wouldn’t be Chicago without the influence of the Chicago Board of Trade and commodities trading.”

In addition to teaching the students about Chicago’s history and modern architecture, Schramm says he also wanted “to expose students to an urban living and learning experience.”

“For all but one day we used public transit to explore the city,” he says. “You can’t understand Chicago without understanding the role of the railroads in creating and maintaining the city.”

The following Missouri S&T students took part in the course:

• Cole Allen, a senior in civil engineering from St. Charles, Missouri.
• Matthew Babcock, a senior in civil engineering from Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
• Jacob Bennett, a senior in architectural engineering from Rocky Comfort, Missouri.
• Molly Breneman, a senior in architectural engineering from St. Charles, Missouri.
• Kaleb Finn, a junior in civil engineering from Peoria, Illinois.
• Cecilia Fugaro, a senior in architectural engineering from Mexico, Missouri.
• Justice Gorsline, a senior in architectural engineering from Oak Grove, Missouri.
• Adam Griffin, a senior in civil engineering from St. Charles, Missouri.
• William Luedeman, a senior in architectural engineering from Independence, Missouri.
• Audrey Metcalf, a senior in architectural engineering from Salem, Illinois.
• Danielle Wilson, a senior in architectural engineering from Columbia, Missouri.
• Lorelei Wilson, a senior in civil engineering from Kansas City, Missouri.

About Missouri University of Science and Technology

Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) is a STEM-focused research university of approximately 7,000 students. Part of the four-campus University of Missouri System and located in Rolla, Missouri, Missouri S&T offers 101 degree programs in 40 areas of study and is among the nation’s top 10 universities for return on investment, according to Business Insider. S&T also is home to the Kummer Institute, made possible by a $300 million gift from Fred and June Kummer. For more information about Missouri S&T, visit www.mst.edu.