About Me
Your Instructor 
Greetings! I am Professor Beth Abels-
I am a licensed Architect, and have been since before many of you were born. I have been teaching at Pierce as a full time professor since 2008! I received my Master's in Architecture an M.Arch, at UCLA. I have two undergraduate degrees. A Bachelor of Science from Kent State- in Ohio, - a major in architecture. A Bachelor of Arts from University of Michigan. It took me a very long time to get through undergraduate school the first time around in Michigan. I worked full time while I was in school, and took some classes that were really tough for me. I had to take calculus twice- once at UM and the second time at Washtenaw Community College. Thank goodness for the community college. I was not good at math, in fact I failed my last math class in high school. I needed calculus to pursue my educational goals. I also attended University of New Mexico for a year. That's were I gained my interest in architecture. I could have pursued architecture at University of Michigan, but I was forcefully convinced that it was not a program appropriate for women. I also attended Cleveland State University right after high school. As you can see I have lots of practice being around colleges.
My husband is an artist and runs makerspace and art classes for young people. Both of my children and their partners live with us- due to covid 19. My oldest son graduated from UCLA in art history and biology, my younger son graduated from UC Irvine in social ecology. He had a virtual graduation.
We live in near Culver City with a dog, 2 cats, 8 chickens - maybe you saw them all in my welcome video.
I'm writing to you from my makeshift home office in the garage.
I look forward to hearing about you. I look forward to our meeting.
So to begin:
Read through the the first couple of modules and complete the first assignments by the end of the first week. This course is set up (hopefully) so that you can move through easily in order. The first set of modules is an introduction to Canvas, to your syllabus and to growth mindset. Curriculum starts with the module following growth mindset
Access the course materials by clicking on next page below.
You may also navigate the course by clicking the Modules button in the Course Navigation Menu, at left.