As part of CCA’s Ecopoesis Project (co-developed by CCA’s Architectural Ecologies Lab and MFA Writing), this graduate seminar explores contemporary ecological theory and design/art practice focused on catalyzing social and/or non-human exchange with environmental subjects.  Through reading seminars, guest lectures, site and case study research, the class explores how creative works, writing, art, design, and architecture, stimulate ecological awareness and/or interaction.   The Presidio, an urban National Park, will be the site and vehicle for exploring ecological concepts and human, non-human, and environmental interaction.  While field work and meetings with experts will support research, working with/in a park will mean working on the idea of ‘park’ as a cultural construct and with evolving concepts of constructed ecologies.  Adhering to all pandemic safety protocols, the class will conduct 4 class research sessions in the park, and will have a couple optional Saturday events.  It will partner with a sister graduate seminar in MFA Grad Writing (taught by Leslie Carol Roberts) for guest events, collaborative research, and cross-disciplinary dialogue.  Co-developed by both seminars, a shared research ‘atlas’ will record and catalog visual, tangible, aural, and written observations and data.  Stemming from research, individual speculative projects, thought of as ‘devices’ (‘observatories,’ ‘recorders,’ ‘amplifiers,’ ‘catalysts,’ ‘maps,’…) will translate, transmit, and/or activate ecological/social interaction.  Students will be asked to expand their disciplinary lens to explore how works engage in environmental awareness, aesthetics, advocacy, cultural programming, and/or communication design.  This graduate seminar is designed to include students from all graduate programs, those interested how theoretical and research-driven ecological understandings can deepen a student’s speculative practice.

Visit Workday to view this information.