Fall 2018 CityStudioSTL Faculty Course Grants

In this interdisciplinary fashion course, students explored how cultural and social influences shaped the evolution of fashion and are expressed in clothing throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Together with first-year students at Normandy High School, students read Love, Loss, and What I Wore by Ilene Beckerman (Algonquin Books, 1995). The book tells the tale of the meaning around items of clothing for the owner, describing the slice of time surrounding the garment. The students then selected and analyzed clothing or accessories from their own wardrobe and from the wardrobe of someone from another generation. They created visual representations of the items and also wrote essays about the items’ significance. The WashU students, who came from majors including history, design, anthropology, business, and biology, traveled to Normandy High School to discuss the meaning of specific items of clothing. The Normandy students also visited to the WashU campus to participate in an exhibition and analysis of the collective work, which was compiled and edited into a book titled Clothing in Context: Unpacking Meaning.

In this new course designed and led by Doctor of Sustainable Urbanism candidate Andrea Godshalk, students explored the theory and practical applicability of addressing climate change through a systems-thinking approach. The class evaluated climate-related challenges facing cities around the globe, documenting and highlighting strategies for adaptation and mitigation. The students’ research was captured with the intention of being able to share to a wider audience through social media and other formats that might be useful to a variety of people. Students addressed topics such as sea level rise, the cost of disasters and inaction, multimodal transportation, urban forestation, refugees, and how women and girls affect—and are affected by—climate change. At the end of the semester, the students worked with OneSTL to host a Talanoa Dialogue during the monthly Sustainability Lab on April 30, 2019.

CityStudioSTL supports a series of community engagement and outreach projects that bring together students in architecture, art, and design with partners in the city of St. Louis. It is generously supported by Gina and Bill Wischmeyer, BA69/MArch71.