What
Wintersession Travel CourseWhere
When
Winter 2022
Course Dates: Jan 6, 2022 — Jan 22, 2022
Who
Open to RISD studentsInstructor approval required to participate. Please contact RISD Global for more details.
An immersive, interdisciplinary, nature-based educational experience for students interested in exploring the intersection of art, science and conservation in a setting that promotes engagement with local and Indigenous environmental practices.
Co-lead by Dr. Lucy Spelman (Senior Lecturer, HPSS, Liberal Arts Science) and Andrea Dezsö (Associate Professor, Illustration)
Course Dates: Jan 6, 2022 — Jan 22, 2022
Instructor approval required to participate. Please contact RISD Global for more details.
Estimated cost—final cost to be announced.
Includes accommodation, field trips, local transportation, some group meals, museum entrances, health and travel insurance. Airfare not included.
This 18-day RISD Global studies course took place on Hawai’i Island. It was co-taught by scientist Dr. Lucy Spelman and artist Professor Andrea Dezsö, both of whom are committed to sustainable conservation through education, creative engagement, and deep personal connection to land and community. This interdisciplinary study program gave students the opportunity to explore current and historical connections between local and Indigenous environmental practices, conservation science and art-practices-in-nature guided by a “Hawaiian sense of place.”
The local arts and environmental education programming partner was the Donkey Mill Art Center in Holualoa; additional local guides were hired for day trips to various nature sites. Daily activities included walks-in-nature, art-in-nature learning activities, meetings with local artists, scientists, and educators, studio time, reading, and discussion. Additional activities included guided visits to nature reserves/parks as well as local arts and environmental organizations.
Dr. Spelman and Professor Dezsö's approach was place-based learning through careful and close observation and examination; students practiced the Hawaiian concept of “kilo.” In the process, students studied the threats to local biodiversity (such as climate change, deforestation, invasive species, and pollution) and the solutions--actual or potential. They made daily entries in their field notebooks, attended lectures and demonstrations, learned traditional approaches to nature-based crafts, water use, and farming from local experts, visited a variety of locations to observe Hawai’i’s “land division system” and its unique biodiversity, and documented their experiences through a combination of writing and art-making. Readings and reading responses were assigned for discussion. For their major project, students teamed up with local community members and artists to create an original work of art or design that explores the intersection of art, science, and conservation for an “Art Exchange Day” at the Center.
The application for Wintersession Travel Courses 2025 will is now closed.
View detailsWintersession 2022
Wintersession 2022
The application for Wintersession Travel Courses 2025 will is now closed.
View detailsInstructor approval required to participate. Please contact RISD Global.
If you are a RISD student with a GPA of 2.5 and up, you are eligible to apply. Permission of the instructor is required and is based upon application and selection.
RISD reserves the right to cancel a course due to under-enrollment or for reasons related to health and safety.
Requesting to withdraw from a RISD global learning program, including Wintersession Travel Courses, prior to the start of the course is highly discouraged and requires a formal process outlined in the RISD course withdrawal policy.
Have questions? The RISD Global team is available to meet for a 1:1 advising session. We can give you more information about your study options, help you figure out which program makes sense for you, and assist you with the application process.
Schedule an AppointmentNo upcoming events for this program at this time.
No announcements for this program.