Course Design with/and/for/through Movement: Transdisciplinary Methods

Course premise:

Working with four interlinked spatial concepts - site, situation, place, and event - we will be asking:

How do we move in encountering sites? How can we investigate situations and events through movement? How do we move with(in) designed spaces, and how do we design for movement? How does movement knowledge influence place-making practices? How do design practices invite or afford movement?
 
Course content:
This course will offer a series of hands-on exploratory research exercises, experimenting with different methods in order to develop these questions. We will test and try out different forms of co-learning, along the way exchanging epistemologies and practices. We will focus on transdisciplinarity, investigating possibilities for interaction between different disciplines (epistemologically and methodologically) in the arts, humanities, and design.
 
In the course we will concentrate on the moment that exists between the articulation of a site or situation, and the emergence of design concepts. In dwelling on this moment, we will experiment with different forms of investigating site/situation, bringing in a number of methods and tools. We will pay attention to spatial (and other) qualities and how they may be investigated, documented, and created. 
 
Through the associated one-off events during the course, we will invite and engage with perspectives on our questions and activities from a range of influences and methods including e.g. ethnographic processes, (micro)phenomenology, film and digital media, design research, arts practice, narrative and literary methods, empirical data, … etc. We will invite additional guest scholars and practitioners to join us in creatively facilitated dialogues and investigations, feeding into the overarching activities undertaken throughout the course by the core PhD participants.
 
The final event will provide an opportunity for the participants to share their work and receive feedback and generate further dialogue, not only with the fellow participants but also other scholars from across different disciplines.

The course is led by guest lecturer Dr Carolina Vasilikou, Senior Lecturer at the Manchester School of Architecture. Carolina is an architect, researcher and educator, with training in movement improvisation. Her research work explores innovative design pedagogies and inclusive multisensory spaces through interdisciplinary and  collaborative exchange of practices. The course has been co-developed in association with PhD candidate Miranda Laurence from the School of Communication and Culture, Aarhus University. Participants in the PhD course in Aarhus will have the opportunity to interact with participants on a sister course based at the Manchester School of Architecture in the UK, online through synchronous meetings, and asynchronous collaborative tasks.

Aim:

Students will gain: Knowledge of a variety of methods, perspectives and theories, with emphasis on transdisciplinarity and mixed methodological approaches

A portfolio of work documenting new processes, methods and ideas, guided by the course leaders

International links, possibility to engage with local and international peers on planning and investigating methods and ideas

A chance to present ideas to and get feedback from a range of scholars.

Target group:

The course is rooted in transdisciplinary interactions, so we welcome participants from a wide mix of disciplinary backgrounds and all levels of PhD study.

Form:

The course will be highly interactive and hands-on, inviting participants to follow their own trajectory responding to introductions to the principal questions and literature. There will be ample opportunity to work with others if desired, with built-in peer reflection moments. Associated events will offer further discussions and lectures/talks from scholars and practitioners in different disciplines.

Lecturers:

Dr Carolina Vasilikou (Manchester School of Architecture) c.vasilikou@mmu.ac.uk

Further guests tbc

Miranda Laurence, PhD candidate, Aarhus University - co-organiser laurencem@cc.au.dk

Venue:

Campus Aarhus, Kasernen, Langelandsgade, 8000 Aarhus C. - room Store sal

Dates and time:

17-19 June 2024, full days - in-person course

Online meetings (introductory/follow-up meetings, and 'check-in's with international peers) will take place before and after the in-person course between 10 June and 5 July, exact dates tbc.

Course dates:

• 17 June 2024 09:00 - 16:00
• 18 June 2024 09:00 - 16:00
• 19 June 2024 09:00 - 16:00