TEACHING PHILOSOPHY “A creative course co-taught by an engineering faculty and an artist empowers the embedding of creative experiences into the lives and learning of students." Francesco Fedele I believe that Academia urges to rediscover the consciousness of teaching by infusing arts into the academic curriculum. We are in need to define a new paradigm of conscious teaching with a broader view of the arts, culture, and creativity as critical for the formation of “holistically and consciously aware students”. Teaching is at risk of becoming algorithmic, computational as merely executed by automatons as those defined by Roger Penrose (1989). I strongly believe that the most important impact of my Art-Science synergy initiative on students is an improvement of the student mental health and thus more self-confidence, more self-esteem because the student has created something. I have taught the special topics course CEE8824 "Art and Geometry" with the support and collaboration of professional Rachel Grant of the Atlanta community. It is important that engineering students are exposed to diverse sources of energy in their teaching experience in order to broaden their mind horizon. A creative course co-taught by a faculty and a professional artist will empower the embedding of creative experiences into the lives and learning of students. This will empower the creation of an environment that enables innovation at the intersection of art, science and technology. More importantly, students work in a gentle (stress-free) environment and they are able to focus on their drawing skills. They draw by observing nature in order to enhance student capability in capturing the essential elements of reality by means of the language of geometry. Drawing from observation helps develop critical thinking skills and alters how the artist observes and engages with the world around them. EMPOWERMENT OF DIVERSITY More importantly, Arts are universal and my art initiatives in Engineering will empower the discovery and success of talented students from racial, ethnic, and gender backgrounds that are underrepresented in their academic field. The universality of the arts will also empower the discovery of talented female artists of the Atlanta community, who wish to undertake a career in academia. The teaching experience at Georgia Tech is a great opportunity to support their entrance in the academic world and undertake a teaching career. - Francesco Fedele, Atlanta December 11 2019
STUDENTS' DRAWINGS TO STUDY LIGHT AND SHADOW
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