Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Work Hours
Monday to Friday: 7AM - 7PM
Weekend: 10AM - 5PM
ABOUT THE COURSE
Into the Blue
for transdisciplinary learning
About
About the course and requirements
“Into the blue” is a pilot proposal of a course, module, or curricular unit for higher education aiming to explore the relationship between disciplines in the co-creation of knowledge. This pilot course was developed in the context of the Hybrid Lab Network project and tested with students, teachers, and lay people from different countries and backgrounds.
The Hybrid Lab Network is a multidisciplinary experimentation project that intermingled participants from i3S, Aalto, Alma Mater, and Wagg, mobilizing different STEAM (Science, Technology, Arts, and Maths) areas of knowledge to collectively develop learning and teaching activities able to promote dialogue, participatory problem-solving skills, as well as critical thinking applied to emergent biotechnologies. This is still a speculative proposal since it has never been fully implemented and only some of the parts have been tested.
We choose the color blue as a starting point to explore the interdisciplinarity of knowledge and the relationship between art, science, technology, and humanities. To understand Blue, we need to journey across time and disciplines. Blue is the physics of light and the chemistry of pigments. It is the color of sadness and death, the color of nobility (blue blood), the sky, the deep sea, and the planet earth (the blue planet). From the madonnas of the medieval period to Yves Klein, blue-inspired artists carried deep meaning in art and society.
In this course, students will explore different facets of the color blue in art, science, and society, looking not only at the past but also at the future. Students will experiment with new scientific developments, such as pigments produced by bacteria and color control by genetic modification, to explore and reflect on the future of color, mainly blue. Furthermore, participants will be invited to delve into the future of blue, using creative exercises and developing collaborative projects.
This course uses hybrid training methodologies that range from lectures, laboratory work sessions, creative activities, and debates. It should also be highlighted that implementing this course requires some advanced expertise in biotechnology and other areas. Supervision and guidance should be given by expert instructors or researchers in the field to ensure a correct understanding of the theoretical concepts and to support the rigorous performance of hands-on activities, especially the biotechnology techniques related to gene editing.
Furthermore, appropriate facilities are required to provide essential equipment and supplies for molecular biology practical work. Also, correct performance of practical sessions requires previous planning and provision of all the necessary materials, reagents, and biological materials.
