Promoting Creative Engagement with Ecological Issues through Art

Abstract

The complexity of contemporary environmental issues has prompted educators to question the validity of the traditional technocentric approaches to such problems and to search instead for more holistic approaches that incorporate perspectives from across the disciplines. However, despite broad recognition of the educational benefits of interdisciplinary learning contexts, research interest in the potential of such approaches remains limited and has had little influence on established pedagogical practices. This presentation contributes to the research on interdisciplinary approaches to environmental issues by augmenting our empirical understanding of how art can help to promote creative engagement with such issues. It will review two recent on-campus collaborative art projects involving engineering students from diverse disciplinary backgrounds and a group of artists known for their unique artistic vision and methodologies for working with nature. Descriptions of the process and outcomes of the ecological art projects will be followed by a review of the findings of a post-project survey that asked about the students’ collaborative work experiences. Discussions will focus on art’s potential role in promoting creative engagement in interdisciplinary learning contexts.