J A Montgomery’s Profile
New York City Architecture, Brooklyn's Civic Center, Urban Design
Jason Montgomery is an architect, urban designer, and educator. An Associate Professor at the New York City College of Technology, he has worked in a number of international practices where he led design projects in Africa, the Middle East, Europe, North and Central America. His research focuses on the nature of urban place, building tectonics and typologies. Recent publications, papers, and organized conferences/symposia address critical initiatives for cities and urban housing, exploration of historic structures and public space, undergraduate research, and place-based learning. Professor Montgomery held previous appointments at University of Notre Dame’s Rome Program, Yale University, and Andrews University.
My Courses
ARCH1231BuildingTechnology,FA2020
An introduction to basic materials of construction and the fundamental principals of hand drafting and system analysis. The coursework includes surveying existing conditions, development of plans, elevations, and sections, and basic details as well as the study of material properties and applications.
LIB2205ID Learning Places, FA2020
This special topics course offers an interdisciplinary approach to investigating our built environment using a case study focused on a specific place each semester. This course combines physical examination with information research and data collection using methodologies developed in multiple disciplines. Students from a variety of departments engage in on-site exploration and in-depth research of a location in New York City. Faculty from the Library and Architectural Technology Departments are teaching the course this semester, and will thus focus course material through a lens of architecture, urban studies, and information studies.
This special topics course offers an interdisciplinary approach to investigating our built environment using a case study focused on a specific place each semester. This course combines physical examination with information research and data collection using methodologies developed in multiple disciplines. Students from a variety of departments engage in on-site exploration and in-depth research of a location in New York City.
A historical analysis of the city’s infrastructure, real estate development, municipal planning, ordinances and key buildings using the comparative method. The class will trace the course of architectural history from the village to the present role of the city as the commercial and cultural hub of the nation. This course will stress the dynamic socio-economic determinants emerging as a result of improvements and growth in technology, transportation, infrastructure, real estate, commerce, housing and recreation.
SOC1102 Urban Sociology, Fall 2020
According to the UN, 82.3% of the U.S. population lived in urban areas in 2018; nearly 90% of the U.S. population is expected to live in urban areas by 2050. The New York-Newark metro area is the nation’s most populous urban area, followed by Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim and the Chicago area. While increasingly ubiquitous metro areas provide a unique living experience. Cities are thus prime research sites and laboratories to analyze everyday 21st-century American life, as many of Americans’ identities and daily lives are strongly tied to urban spaces and shaped by their economic, social and cultural power. This course connects macro-level processes, including global forces, politics and economy to micro-level daily life, such as social interactions among city dwellers. This course is designed to help students develop empirical understanding and analysis of cities. By exploring U.S. urban history from the emergence of modern cities in Europe and in North America during the industrial revolution, students learn how cities were understood not only as a site of production, but also a driving force for modern consumption by looking at department stores and world fairs. Then, students move to explore the U.S. context through Chicago School scholars’ ecological perspectives, and discuss how and why these scholars used the city as a laboratory to analyze modern social life in America. This course focuses particularly on contemporary urban issues in American cities, starting with the post-war era. Why did whites leave cities for the suburbs? Who was left behind? What caused urban riots? What did urban America lose during that time? By taking new urban sociological approaches into account, students will conceptualize the relationships between the state, economy and city in order to understand urban America. This course emphasizes two perspectives. First, students will explore urban changes and transformations in Downtown Brooklyn as an urban laboratory. Together, as a class, we will use various media and scholarly materials in order to understand contemporary urban issues through our daily experiences in Brooklyn. Second, despite the focus on American cities, this course also underscores global and transnational perspectives for comparison. From immigrants who bring their own culture to the presence of global/transnational corporations, most U.S. cities are global entities, and urban lives are intricately tied to globalization. This course, thus, aims to open up discussion about how we connect the micro-level of our social interactions, consumption, and daily lives to macro-levels of the progress, global economic forces, politics and culture.
My Projects
City Tech’s Source for Academic Affairs Information
The Open Road is our place to highlight all that’s possible on the OpenLab. Join now to keep up on OpenLab news, events, and updates. Check our weekly In the Spotlight posts for a glimpse into the incredible work being done by City Tech students, faculty, and staff. Follow OpenLab News for announcements and site updates. And see our OpenLab Calendar for office hours, events, and workshops. You can find our workshop schedule and signup for workshops here as well. The Open Road is also a place for the OpenLab community (meaning you!). We would love your feedback, insight, and comments. Please send along anything on the OpenLab that you love! We are always available for any questions you might have. Email us anytime at openlab@citytech.cuny.edu!
Living Lab General Education Seminar
This site serves as a primary hub of information and resources for participants of the City Tech Living Lab General Education Seminar beginning in Spring 2019. General Education is a critical component of City Tech’s curriculum. This seminar provides support and training to full-time and part-time faculty seeking to enhance their integration of Gen Ed learning objectives into their assignments and courses. This site has compiled links to many of the Gen Ed seminar sites from previous years to serve as an archive and historical overview of the seminar.
The purpose of this project is to create a forum to ask questions, generate discussion, and share teaching materials, resources, and ideas about teaching and learning on the OpenLab. Avatar image: “The open door” by hehaden.
A private working space for the OpenLab Committee.
My Clubs
For anyone who loves running or wants to start running. We should start up a day of the week we can go on group runs around the school area. Maybe Thursday during school hours.
This club is for everyone interested in running In New York City. It is for those who are interested in seeing what NYC has to offer. In terms of culture, architecture, and just the overall urban experience. This club is also a way to revitalize your energy and eagerness to explore. Especially after a long and difficult pandemic. Please feel free to share your local runs, your thoughts, and overall feelings on here.
Marathoners and half-marathoners unite!