Designing Matter, now in its second year, is a collaborative learning experiment at the University of Virginia involving students and faculty from numerous departments and disciplines, and members of the community too. This weekly forum explores cutting edge research in science and other matter related fields, along with implications for society too. For undergraduates from the College, Engineering, Education, and Architecture Schools, Designing Matter is CCSC 200, a course for credit that offers something unique to all. Connections between course participants and with the community are encouraged through discussion and as students plan individualized projects. To foster these ties, for Spring 2005 we plan a special Project Network session at the new Charlottesville Community Design Center on the Downtown Mall. We also hope to involve alumni and the broader community, real and virtual, through our website and other networks and materials that emerge from our project over time. We begin with the assumption that our program, educational model, and findings are to be shared.

 

Designing Matter seeks connections and builds bridges across cultures, academic and otherwise. Many of the most interesting questions and pressing challenges that we face are too big for individual persons and disciplines to tackle alone. Designing Matter provides a place for sharing insights and perspectives, both common and differing, and for discussing issues of importance to us all. To gain a deeper understanding and to address in a meaningful way, the large issues impacting local, national and global society, our talents must be pooled. In Designing Matter we experiment with new collaborative approaches to learning, and we challenge ourselves to think big.