Learning through Drawing across Disciplines

Artists, scientists, architects, engineers and others draw to inquire into the world around them, to observe and gather information. They draw to generate, explore and test new and established ideas. They also draw to communicate their ideas and observations to others. In all these ways, the accessibility and diversity of materials that can be used make drawing a very direct externalization and exploration of thought. Thinking through the drawing process facilitates metacognition, thinking about thinking, which is both situated and extended through drawing. Grounding teaching and learning on professional practices brings the real world into the classroom. Moving through a variety of independent and collaborative drawing experiments and exercises, the potential and flexibility of drawing as a tool for learning and discovery will be explored. Topics will include: drawing to see, to imagine, to solve problems, to reflect and to communicate. Course readings, discussions and critiques complement studio work. Participants leave inspired by the possibilities and potential to integrate drawing into their ongoing practice, and with specific methods to use drawing as a tool for thought across domains.