Description

As an MFA Art & Tech student and "Eco Design" Teacher Assistant in fall 2023, I can affirm the course's unique integration of technology, art, and community engagement. Focused on human-nature relationships in architecture and design, it employs everyday technology for interactive sound mapping and community involvement. Drawing mainly from the Art education and design department, the course explores biophonic, geophonic, and anthrophonic sound maps via soundwalks, workshops, installations, and lectures along Chicago's Waterways. Students engage in outdoor eco-sensing activities, like using the EU Hush City App, kayaking around Goose Island, and river walking. The curriculum covers environmental topics, including freshwater history and the imminent water crisis, with readings from environmental pioneers like Leopold, Carson, and Muir. Assignments prompt creation of objects, sound maps, AR interactives, and public installations, fostering awareness and community participation. Weekly activities include reading responses, book and film reviews, data and sound maps, AR interventions, Riverbank greening, and proposals for public site activation.

Course Overview:

ECO Design Riverworks, as a course, explores the intersection of nature and human-designed environments. It aims to deepen the eco-literacy and digital fluency of artists and designers, connecting them with the creative possibilities of human ecologies. In collaboration with local and global organizations, students engage in immersive experiences, such as soundwalks, field recordings, and installations, to raise awareness of biodiversity and propose improved coexistences. Through a qualitative approach, the course delves into urban ecology, emphasizing the interconnectedness of environmental, cultural, and climate change aspects. Students use everyday tools for field analyses, soundscapes, systems thinking, and placemaking toolkits to understand their role in promoting greater ecology and equity in Chicago.

Key Topics:

• Soundscapes: Understanding environments as physical spaces and perceptual experiences.

• Field Analyses: Collecting and mapping data as citizen scientists.

• Systems Thinking Relationships: Exploring our connection with nature in various ways.

• Placemaking Toolkits: Activating underutilized spaces for ecological impact.

Course Structure:

The course unfolds in three parts – Eco Literacy, Eco Sensing a City, and Changemaker Advocacy. It spans topics like Earth Health, Humans and Nature, Biodiversity of Life, Water Is Life, Regenerative Cities, and more. The curriculum incorporates hands-on practices like sound walking, river listening, environmental mediation, and the creation of Eco Design Riverworks Environmental Advocacy Projects. It concludes with final stewardship projects, including student-directed movies, apps, pop-up books, coloring books, graphic novels, augmented reality videos, and tender house proposals.

Class Schedule (abbreviated):

• Week 1-3: Introduction to Eco Literacy and Earth Health

• Week 4-8: Exploring Biodiversity, Water, Freshwater & Great Lakes, Eco Sensing

• Week 9-15: Changemaker Advocacy, Presenting Proposals, Work on Final Projects, Final Portfolio Upload

Expanded Explorer of the World Assignments:

Assignments include class participation, discussion, nature journal, film on Humans & Nature, water film presentation, sound maps, book/film reviews, and a final individual/team/class project. The course employs an Eco Design Survey to track environmental knowledge and intent. Students are assessed through attendance, participation, weekly worksheets, annotated readings, presentations, and a final portfolio.

Course Philosophy:

Eco Design Riverworks views environmental design advocacy as an ethical responsibility. It encourages a 'thirding' approach, fostering collaboration among individuals, groups, and the public. By investigating new sustainable practices, the course serves as a platform for discussions, research, and activism, promoting artists and designers as engaged citizens, scientists, and stewards.

Chicago River Tour Day Documentation

A Selected Number of Final Project of the Students