Passport

Instructor: jay ball (ageeball@gmail.com)
Course: 48-299 | 1.5 units
Time: varies (22.5 required hours)
Grading: pass/fail

[syllabus]

Passport is a university wide, interdisciplinary course designed to encourage and facilitate student engagement in events across the College, the University and the City of Pittsburgh. Passport requires students to attend pre-approved lectures, workshops, exhibits, films, performances and various other events sponsored by the College, the University, or a variety of institutions and organizations in Pittsburgh.

Through direct experience, the primary intention of Passport is to engage students in contemporary ideas and debates, encourage and support interdisciplinary work and discourse, and to stimulate an active dialogue between a student's academic pursuits and their real world experience. Passport provides a structure and means for bringing new ideas and explorations into the creative and intellectual work of the students. Participating in Passport will strengthen student's critical thinking skills and provide them with a structure and foundation to further develop their interests in scholarship, research, practice and creative production.

Passport can be taken as a year long or semester course. Students will be required to attend 45 hours of pre-approved events. Students are free to choose the type and schedule of the events they attend, having over 75 events each semester from which to choose. Events will include dramatic performances, art, architecture and design exhibits, lectures and workshops sponsored by many disciplines, films, concerts and conferences. Additionally, students will be required to keep a journal of their passport experience and attend small, dynamic 1 hour discussion session every other week.

Passport is not just a course-it's a cultural shift. Experiencing the world around you will undoubtedly transform you, your work and your thinking. Are you ready?