The world as a classroom - Part 1

When I began planning "Engineering Venice" for Maymester 2017, our international programs coordinator asked if I would require classroom space at the local university for daily lectures and classroom-type activities.  My first inclination was "of course!" We would later learn that the space was expensive, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized that formal classroom time was the opposite of what I wanted to achieve! Indeed, the point of taking students abroad was to get out of the classroom and immerse them in a diverse and foreign culture, so they might learn about the intangible effects of engineering and technology and how they shaped the feel of this magnificent city.  So often in engineering education, we become lost in the science of learning to build the modern world and the incredible things in it. We place a great emphasis on teaching students about the technical side of engineering, and inadvertently overlook how culture influences our design, and how design influences culture- a wonderful paradox!

Norwich Maymester students consider water and sewer requirements over cappuccino in a bustling Venetian campo.  Here they are making rudimentary calculations on a cafe napkin while brainstorming innovative ways to modernize an ancient infrastructure without detracting from the idyllic and eclectic blend of byzantine, baroque and renaissance architecture surrounding them.

I've now come to realize the immense challenge and infinite possibilities associated with using the "world as a classroom." Instead of lecturing in a hall, mobile technology has allowed us to literally hold class anywhere.  Learning about water and sewer requirements is suddenly more relevant while floating on the Grand Canal and considering that those very waterways are leech fields for over half of the city's septic systems!

Norwich Maymester students (background) with their faculty adviser, Dr. Brian Bradke (foreground), riding a water taxi through Venice's Grand Canal.  Despite a thousand years of evolution, the city still relies on the canals for transporting goods and eliminating wastewater for 60,000 permanent residents and over 3 million tourists.

I've also learned of a new concept (new to me) that I will bring back to the university with me: STEAM.  I'm sure many of you have heard of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math).  In America, we have placed a great emphasis on STEM education and its importance to our economy.  But something is missing- ART! STEAM, as I heard it discussed yesterday, refers to Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math.  (http://stemtosteam.org/) .  This succinctly illustrates why we came to Italy to study engineering in the first place: to observe and study the intangible effects of science and technology.  That is to say: How does culture and art effect our technical work and the implementation of modern technology, and how does this new technology then influence culture?  It is a theme I hope my students will begin to investigate, and one I hope to add to every aspect of my pedagogical approach.  Ciao!

Norwich Maymester students attending a series of lectures at the Universita luav di Venezia  in Venice, Italy.  The seminar presented the challenges of making the city more accessible for disabled persons from a cultural and artistic viewpoint.