Designers Abroad: A Short Course in India
Amritapuri , Kollam District, Kerala, India
July 28- August 25, 2012
Course: ATR 300 (3 Credits)
Price: approximately $1960 undergraduate (potential graduate option, $2180 graduate). Includes accommodation and meals. Students pay airfares on their own.
Led by: Deborah F Carlson, UMass Dartouth Artisanry & Textile/Fiber
Goals and Objectives:
The primary objective is an experience of working in their field while experiencing cultural immersion. The Designers Abroad would take Artisanry students to South India, to design tapestries and bags for Embracing the World , a United Nations recognized NGO. This would be a Service Learning course offered both for credit and non-credit.
The course would expand design experiences beyond opportunities in the United States, to see small artisan organizations in the developing world. It would combine both classroom design problems with service learning.
This is an opportunity for students to experience new cultures, expand awareness, and have a personal experience of the lives of artisans in the developing world. Our students are talented and creative. They have a great deal to contribute to the world.
This short-term course could be taken for credit or non-credit. As a 3 credit course, there would be a studio component based on their design work. Another three credits could be an Independent Study, such as a travel diary reading and writing component, reflective of their experience.
The goal of the program would be two fold – first, to immerse UMassD students in another culture; this one would be rural south India, in the State of Kerala. Secondly, the students, as a Service Learning activity, would work with local artisans, designing tapestries and bags to be made by these women.
The course will fulfill university requirements for service learning and diversity.
Day by day Itinerary (tentative)
everyday:
6:00 AM tea
8:00 to 10:00 breakfast
1:00- 2:00 lunch
4:00 tea
8:30-9:30 dinner
Day 1 tour Amritapuri; introduction to the tailor shop
Day 2 project #1assigned by Jayanti (head of tailor shop)
Day 3 workshop with German pattern maker Aparna
Day 4 visit Amrita University, including e-learning project (haptic textile painting software)
Day 5 workday
Day 6 critique
Day 7 Field trip to Kochi
Day 8 Problem #2 from Jayanti
Day 9 workshop with New York stylist Johanna Davis on sourcing materials in India
Day 10 Workshop with pattern maker Aparna
Day 11 Backwater tour
Day 12 Studio workday
Day 13 Critique
Day 14 Field Trip to Varcala; Kovalum Beach
Day 15 Problem #3 from Jayanti
Day 16 Workshop with pattern maker Aparna
Day 17 Design workday
Day 18 Design workday
Day 19 Feedback from Western Shop staff
Day 20 Exhibit of Design work
Day 21 Field trip Orphanage
Day 22 free day
Day 23 Trivandrum
Day 24 fly home
For more information:
Visit Amrita.edu
Contact International Programs Office
Pine Dale Hall 7123A, 508.910.6506
