Integrative 1 Seminar
The Elevator Pitch
Integrative Seminar I is the place where students begin to connect their creative making to an intellectually rigorous reading, writing, and research practice. By combining skills and modes of expression that are traditionally sequestered, students are able to construct a markedly stronger foundation for their future creative work.
Official Course Description
From the Course Catalogue
Sol LeWitt famously said that “ideas are machines for making art.” Integrative Seminar 1 awakens the possibilities of writing as an exciting, dynamic source of inspiration. It can be an experimental space full of play and invention. It can be a formal and rigorous space for debate. It can be a tool used to process, explore, express or reflect. Writing does not simply represent thought, it is a catalyst to form thought.
In this course you will be introduced to a diverse range of texts (fiction, non-fiction, poetry, journalism, theory) in order to consider the expressive possibilities of language. Class discussions will examine how writing conveys ideas and emotions. They will also make room for your voice to enter into larger critical and creative conversations.
At the heart of the integrative model is the connection to your Integrative Studio class. Our goal is to make reading, writing and critical thinking essential components of the art, design and strategic thinking processes. The two courses are tied together conceptually through a shared theme (as defined by the keyword of your class) and through bridge projects. Bridge projects are shared assignments between studio and seminar. They ask you to explicitly and productively blur the boundaries between the two courses. What happens when writing becomes a form of making, and making becomes a form of thinking?
How One Instructor Describes This Course
“Over the course of the semester, Integrative Seminar I builds —beginning in the personal or solely subjective domain, moving next to the peer space or the intersubjective, and lastly shifting to the vast realm of research. (Embedded throughout this arc are periods of self-reflection and assessment.) In Seminar, students read a wide array of literary genres written by diverse and inclusive authors. This allows them to gain a sense of the many ways texts can be written and read, while simultaneously exposing them to different viewpoints and ways of thinking. At the same time, students begin to use reading, writing, and critical thinking to support their making processes. Whether it’s writing a text as a springboard for making, composing literary reflections on studio projects, or free associative journaling as part of the studio making process, students are inspired to reassess their relationship to the written word, learning to value it as a critical tool in their creative practice.”
-Anna Fridlis
The Uniqueness of Integrative 1
The semester is designed with specific key moments (referred to as “bridges”) during which students connect the content between Seminar and Studio, deepening their perspectives.
Because Integrative 1 is actually two distinct classes taught separately, two instructors work together to weave a cohesive learning experience during the entire semester. This includes but is not limited to: idea generation, conceptual thinking and planning, experimenting through risk-taking (affording student resiliency), self-reflection and assessment, and process-oriented exploration with an emphasis on learning through failure. The dynamic and supportive atmosphere created between the two classes can be described as “alchemical”.
The Learning Portfolio & The First Year
In Integrative Studio students are introduced to the Learning Portfolio (affectionately known as the LP). This online digital platform is encouraged and used extensively across the entire First Year. In their classes, students discover how others perceive their work; conversely, the LP is the place students learn what they think about their own work. The LP is a platform where they can record making and thinking processes, evidence growth, and ultimately become better makers and thinkers through self-reflection and assessment.
Week by Week Layout and Project Examples
Memoir – Bridge 1: I Remember
Weeks 1 – 2
Students read an excerpt of Joe Brainard’s “I Remember”, learn to recognize and write sensory prose, utilize specific detail as opposed to reiterate general information, employ cultural references, and alter mood through word choice. They produce their own 750-word “I Remember” lyric essay after conducting research into their own memories and journals.
–Elida Chen’s Reflection on their Bridge 2 Studio Project
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Peer to Peer – Bridge 2: Design Process
Weeks 3 – 4
In Seminar, students learn the nuanced steps of the design process and then write a design process journal about their Studio project. In Studio, they create wearables for each other using information obtained through partner interviews and a shared museum visit. Alternatively, (as the project on the left shows) students are asked to create sculptures in response to the book’s contents and context.
Multiple Perspectives – Bridge 3: Group Exhibit (Gallery materials)
Weeks 5 – 8
Students work together in Studio to develop a theme for a group exhibit, while in Seminar the same group creates artist bios, a press release, and an exhibition write-up. Students also begin thinking about which artist they want to research for Bridge 4.
Introduction to Research – Bridge 4: Artist Journal
Weeks 9 – 14
Students research chosen artists at the New School Library with a focus on a specific year of their life and a theme regarding that year, learning the importance of narrowing a topic. After conducting research, students compose a journal or diary entry from the point of view of the artist or someone close to them; this 1000-word text is accompanied by a short Annotated Bibliography (allowing students to familiarize themselves with Chicago style citations).
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Reflection – Bridge 5: End of Semester Self-Reflection
Weeks 14 – 15
Students respond to prompts regarding what they’ve learned over the course of the semester — strengths, areas they’d like to improve, new passions or fascinations, what they are most proud of, etc. — composing a final connected text of about 500 words.
What Students Take With Them When They Leave
“The Integrative courses offer students a truly unique experience by incorporating both traditional and experimental research and writing practices into students’ making processes. This happens throughout the semester in innumerable ways; for example, they free-write at the beginning of each class and employ free-writing exercises (to access their creativity) when feeling stuck in Studio. Students also use Seminar research to respond to or deepen a project in Studio.
-Anna Fridlis
All Integrative courses create frequent opportunities for giving and receiving peer feedback, readying students for critical and productive engagement with peer work, regardless of form. Students also learn how to receive and implement each other’s feedback.
Because this class relies heavily on verbal communication (via the critique process) and reflection, students begin to discover their critical voices. They also become more confident communicating their own ideas as well as others.”