Interdisciplinary Studios -- incubation space for semester long projects

I’ve always been inspired by architecture studios on campus. There is an unmatched sense of camaraderie that develops by spending a lot of time working together in a shared space. I’ve seen variations of this, mostly for graduate students, where people have assigned desks, tables, or cubicles together often near labs or other work areas. Most undergrads, however, don’t have this available to them.

Obviously anyone can come into the library and work on assignments—but it’s temporary or ephemeral. Libraries offer a host of labs, studios, and commons areas but you go there, work a bit, and then leave.

What if we could take the architecture studio concept (a dedicated spot for a whole semester) and open that to a variety of disciplines?

We’re going to try it in January.

We’ll be looking for complex semester long projects and inviting students to apply for a spot. We’re imagining hosting 6-8 projects in an enclosed room that includes groups or individual work areas and a communal brainstorming zone.

Each project will get a desk (or table) and some basic tools, along with access to the room whenever the building is open. It will be secured so they can leave materials and store their supplies or equipment.

We’re interested in a hosting a variety of projects such as undergrad research, service learning, digital humanities, visualization, game development, startups, and so forth. The more diverse the better! Perhaps we’ll assign a common theme like ethics or globalization-- and mix it up each semester.

The driving idea is to offer a sandbox where students can bounce ideas, share skills, and have productive collisions. An engineer and business major working with a digital media artist on a web app. Or an agriculture student working with a public policy major on a mini- documentary about nutrition.

Not only will they have dedicated workspace but the library will take an active interest in their projects. We will develop exhibits around their work and offer guidance and mentorship. We also bring in expertise related to design, data, writing, coding, presenting, or whatever else is needed. They become a cohort and we build a program (a curriculum) around them. We customize our efforts based on what they are working on.

I guess this has the spirit of a living-learning community but without the residential aspect. I could see this eventually evolving into a collection of independent studies from different colleges all housed together. The real value is companionship combined with our personalized engagement. It also gives us a chance to study student processes and to become more familiar with their mental models and workflows.

Again, this prototype is in the works. The long-range vision is to host a handful of these studios all across campus. But first we have to test the model and see what we can learn.