In 1977 Marshall McLuhan asked “[w]hat changes will be needed in schools, when the entire world becomes a ground for knowing and learning? (City as Classroom p.173).
Inspired by the theory and history of the 1970’s unschooling movement which sought to make urban acculturation a fundamental part of elementary and high school education, this workshop explores experiential arts-based methods for learning from and with the materiality of the city. In the present period of rapid urban and technological development in North America, there is a growing faultline in the barriers which maintain student’s image of schools and universities as the sole location of knowledge acquisition.

This workshop will facilitate discussion amongst participants as to how we as liberal and fine arts educators working in an urban environment can bring more relevance to our students’ educational experience through place-based learning. The gamified activities and creative prompts offered in this workshop will give participants a hands-on introduction to arts-based methods such as site-writing, site-specific performance, and assemblage sculpture. Participants will leave this workshop with a set of tools to enrich both their own and their students’ appreciation for the city as a place of learning and creative inspiration.