Open to all people interested.
Strollology – Walking as Creative Practice
Strollology – Walking as Creative Practice
The Swiss sociologist and founding Dean of Bauhaus-University’s Faculty of Art & Design in the early 1990s, Lucius Burkhardt, was also a leading scholar on walking as an academic and creative practice. Much simplified, to Burkhardt walking is a means to wholistically experience and reflect aesthetics, in particular the aesthetics of landscape. Burkhardt’s research was subsequently supplemented by others, including e.g., the British anthropologist Tim Ingold, who extended Burkhardt’s focus on how walking affects the perception of aesthetics towards a notion of walking as a way of generating “meaning” at a level that precedes language.
To walk is to be immersed in the environment, perceiving it, feeling it with your senses and inherently, quasi-automatically attribute meaning to those experiences. For Ingold, Burkhardt and others in this line of research, the power of meaning making is inherent to movement, not settings or objects.
Coincidentally, in parallel to the more abstract, conceptual investigations of Burkhardt, Ingold and others another strand of quantitative psychological research has been developing in the last decade convincingly suggesting that the activity of walking significantly increases cognitive creativity. I.e., when walking we’re more creative than e.g., while sitting.
Accordingly, the purpose of this course is to consider walking as an activity supporting the processes of reflection, understanding and ultimately coming up with new ideas. From Flânerie, to Dérive and urban wayfaring, to themed walks and walking activities we will test different walking techniques to inform interdisciplinary creative processes and practice. Based on the materials produced during the exercises, students will build a portfolio of works that facilitate an enhanced sense of where and how we are in place and time. Finally, the experiences will be developed into a personal “walking recipe” for future creative practice.
A lot of the content and discussions in the course will evolve around issues of experiential design, cognitive, sensual and emotional perspectives towards personal experiences and how they may be applied in a series of small design/art projects. Despite a certain focus on design as the output medium of the course, most importantly, the course aims at developing new techniques and habits to enhance creative thinking, that may be applied across all disciplines and/or walks of life.
As an added bonus there will be plenty of opportunities to get to know Weimar and its surrounding through personal experiences.
The course fee is 890 EURO.
690 EURO for students & alumni
350 EURO for BUW students
The course fee includes:
- Orientation & Support
- Programme according to description
- Teaching materials
- Bauhaus Summer School ID card
- Daily Lunch at the University Cafeteria (Monday - Friday)
- Certificate
- Internet access at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar
- Free use of library
- Accompanying programme including excursions
- Free entrance to museums belonging to Klassik Stiftung Weimar
- Travel by public transport in Weimar
Please note our terms and conditions (admission conditions, cancellation conditions etc.)
The course fee does not include:
- Travel costs
- Accommodation
- Insurance
- Additional excursions
1. Online Registration
Please register first in our system ► Registration
Please follow the instructions on the page.
2. Documents
Please submit until 01.05.24 the following documents:.
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CV
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Letter of motivation
ONLY COMPLETE AND CORRECTLY LABELED APPLICATIONS WILL BE CONSIDERED!
3. Selection Process
All applicants will receive notification about the outcome of the selection process as soon as possible via e-mail. In case of a positive answer you will receive the invoice simultaneously which you will have to pay within 10 days. If applicants fail to do this, places will be given to others on the waiting list.
If you need a VISA, we recommend you to get informed now about the requirements and to make an appointment with the German embassy in your home country.
A maximum of 20 applicants will be selected to participate in this course.
After successful completion of the language course, you will receive a certificate of participation issued by the Bauhaus Summer School. I
Participants earn 3 credit points (ECTS) after completion of the two-week course. In order to receive credit points, t is necessary to attend at least 80% of the course lessons and to fulfil the required tasks.
Prior to your participation, it is essential that you clarify whether your home university will recognise the foreign credits you intend to earn.
If you would like to receive a grade, you must discuss this with the teacher at the beginning of the course! The fulfilment of additional tasks may be necessary.
17.08. Arrival in Weimar (11.00-20.00)
18.08. Get to know Weimar and Welcome Reception (14.00-22.00)
19.08. Course (09.30-16.00) and social programme
20.08. Course (09.30-16.00), Crash Course** and supporting programme
21.08. Course (09.30-16.00), crash course** and supporting programme
22.08. Course (09.30-16.00), crash course** and supporting programme
23.08. Course (09.30-16.00), crash course** and supporting programme
24.08. Excursions
25.08. Excursions
26.08. Course (09.30-16.00), crash course** and supporting programme
27.08. Course (09.30-16.00), crash course** and supporting programme
28.08. Course (09.30-16.00), crash course** and supporting programme
29.08. Course (09.30-16.00)
30.08. Open.Ateliers and Farewell Party
31.08. Departure (key handover 08.00-11.00)
*Changes are possible.
**If booked in advance.
Health benefits of walking are well established, but walking can also be used to explore places, to build community and to be creative. Indeed, there seems to be good evidence that walking enhances creativity. This course will put this hypothesis to the test through a series of walking activities that will result in a set of experiential designs/art works.