Upper Division Interdisciplinary Studios extend a student's cross-school experience from Core Studio up into their upper division years. 3 units of Interdisciplinary Studio are required of all majors and must be completed in the junior or senior year. This advanced level studio is thematic in nature. Technical demonstrations are paired with thoughtful readings, seminar discussions and ambitious projects. Collaboration, experimentation and presentation skills are developed in concert with critical thinking.Section Description:This course is a creative interdisciplinary investigation in the art, design, history, social conflicts, and aesthetics of Parks and Leisure. The course is also part of a collaborative: E SCHOOL : A fine arts, H&S, and Architecture environmental justice collaborative. Many Urban dwellers long for the reminder of a simpler life, a temporary dwelling space where one is reminded of peace and solace as well as a catharsis of nature. Parks are also sites of sports, families, play, and social togetherness. For example, In the 1960’s Golden Gate Park became a site for a reinvention of social hierarchies, and a magnet for young people yearning to become free to lead a new kind of life as San Francisco held a tradition of innovative and creative ways to live.During Covid this has become even more heightened as the public had to isolate at home for long periods of time, parks became all the more important globally.  The Park is an adaptation of desire for both history and nature in close proximity. Parks are also sites for social contradictions. For example, Native tribes were relocated out of the Yosemite Valley in order to create the National Parks. We will examine human behaviors in park histories, leisure time, Cultural Resilience, and climate adaptations within Parks.How do we make sense of historical decisions as we reflect now on the consequences of climate change on our parks and leisure? What role can art and design play in a redefinition of human interaction in wilderness and urban parks?  How can we protect the fragile rivers and creeks in the face of environmental challenges to water? What do relational human pathways look like? How might we make art/design in the wild? Some field trips may include: East Bay Regional parks, Pescadero beach, Angel Island, China Camp, SF Zoo, Ocean Beach, Town of Lock, South Bay salt ponds, and the Albany Bulb.Leisure time looks different due to Covid 19. Have you been able to integrate leisure time into your current circumstances? We will study the nuances of nature and the edges of our urban localities. As leisure time is important for everyone, you will experience both the research and visceral experiences of actually being present in the parks, conducting historical research, creating creative data visualizations, culminating in creative works that expands on one of the parks in light of climate and cultural resiliency for the future.

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