[This is a 3-credit Common Core Microcredential course (CCMC) focused on transdisciplinary project-based learning in a highly compressed format.]

• CCMCs are optional, i.e. whether or not you take CCMCs (in place of one standard 6-credit CC course) for fulfilling the UG5(c) Common Core requirements, is at your discretion. However, if you opt to take CCMCs, you must take TWO of them, not more or less.]
• Students who have been granted Advanced Standing / Credit Transfer / Course Exemption / Internal Transfer for Common Core courses in their current programme are NOT eligible.
• Students who have completed CCMCs are NOT eligible for the Common Core Special Proviso in the determination of the Graduation GPA.

Registration:

January 15, 2024 (Mon) (10:00 am) – February 9, 2024 (Fri)
via https://forms.gle/bxkmbwgxDR367n6m7

Course Description

We are all confronted with a broad range of unsustainable material practices in our everyday lives. While we start to be more aware of the issues surrounding single-use polymers, there are still many materials we see, touch, and interact whose life cycles remain unclear. In most cases, the details about their sourcing, processing, and production practices are largely untraced or inaccessible. 

In this interdisciplinary course on sustainable material practices you will gain an understanding of modern material taxonomies, mapping anthropogenic influences, and theoretical and artistic approaches to understanding material in detail. Furthermore, you will be introduced to sustainable and creative solutions for contemporary material processes. You will learn to understand the ecological footprint of materials used in our urban realm and to critically review the entangled complexities of our global and local material worlds. Additionally, you will discuss a range of regionally sourced samples from our materials library in small focus groups. A field trip and hands-on work will allow you to deepen your understanding of material processes and speculate on future trends for locally sourced materials.

This course will equip you to make more informed decisions about materials use and enable you to contribute to a more sustainable future by understanding the impact of our material practices on the environment.

Course Learning Outcomes

On completing the course, students will be able to:

1. To demonstrate a greater understanding of material selection and application including concepts of sustainability, site/resource, and fabrication/making practices.
2. To understand and evaluate materials and their historical / cultural / social / economical background in global and local context.
3. To critically challenge assumptions on production and distribution of materials.
4. To test and review material samples and critically analyze their potential.

Offer Semester and Day of Teaching

Summer Semester

June 18 to 22, 2024