*Please note the class start and end date:
1st 7-weeks : 9/2/2024 - 10/25/2024
2nd 7-weeks: 10/28/2024 - 12/13/2024
Section 001 (Full 14 weeks)
Topic: Experiential Learning Design
With Yanyue Yuan /Thursdays 2:15-3:30pm
Course fee: 120 RMB
Description:
How can learning be designed to be meaningful and transformative? In this course, students will explore the pedagogical approaches and key theories that inform facilitating and designing experiential learning. Each student will be paired with another section of Experience Studio or a program supported by Community-Engaged Learning Office (CELO) during Fall 2024. Students will design a facilitation activity to practice situated learning, social-emotional learning, and participatory experience design. In addition to designing and facilitating an activity for their paired session, students will create reflection and project portfolios to document their reflections throughout the course.
Section 002 (2nd 7-weeks)
Topic: Airport Experience Design
With Anna Hopper /Thursdays 12:45-3:30pm
Course fee: 3800 RMB
Description:This experience studio examines airport experience design. How is the current transportation experience structured? What elements are part of it? How do those factors affect the user experience? What can we learn from comparing different aspects of airport experiences, and how can we improve them? Students will study experience design, and they will think about the balance between individual experience wants and higher-level system needs. They will also learn about the specific requirements of airport and transportation experience design. The course will travel to Singapore for a weekend visiting Changi Airport, which is frequently named the best airport in the world for its superior user experience design. There, they will not only visit the many different parts of the airport, they will also learn about the airport’s development, analyze the existing experience design, and participate in a design thinking workshop. For the end of the course, students will produce a project in which they design an idea for a new or improved airport experience that is shared with the community.
Section 003 (1st 7-weeks)
Topic: Nature + Tourism
With Anna Hopper /Thursdays 12:45-3:30pm
Course fee: 1700 RMB
Description: In this experience studio, students will investigate the phenomenon of mass tourism at national parks and other natural sites, specifically examining the conflict between preservation and conservation on one hand with commercialization and accessibility on the other. How does the introduction of mass tourism infrastructure influence the experience of visiting such a site? The course will travel to Qingdao and nearby Laoshan National Park. They will examine the tourism infrastructure at Laoshan and along the Qingdao coastline. They will learn firsthand how modern infrastructure interacts with the natural environment to influence visitor experience, gain knowledge about the development of national park infrastructure in China, and engage in critical thinking about mass tourism and sustainability more broadly. Students will produce a project about how tourism infrastructure influences the experience of nature; their projects will culminate in an experience shared with the community.
Section 004 (1st 7-weeks)
Topic: Theatre Collaboration Lab
With Nicole Wang /Thursdays 3:45-6:30 pm
Course fee: 350 RMB
Description:
This experience studio enables students to create a 15-minute immersive acting experience for the audience, with either a romantic or horror theme. Our focus will be more on how to creatively design an immersive experience by leveraging tech (sound, light effects etc), acting and scriptwriting. Instead of conforming to predetermined roles, students will use their creativity to create roles that they are most comfortable with. Students can also develop their acting skills under the guidance of experienced instructors. At the conclusion of the course, students will showcase their output during Halloween week. Students must be flexible with the scheduling of the course and routine practice which may happen in the evenings and the weekends. Will possibly enroll more additional waitlisted students depending on the class size. No prior experience required. The course fee covers show tickets, transportation, props (if any), workshops.
Section 005 (2nd 7-weeks)
Topic: Comedy Performance
With Nicole Wang /Thursdays 3:45-6:30 pm
Course fee: 350 RMB
Description:
This experience studio is designed to introduce students to the art of stand-up comedy focusing on the creation, drafting, and performance of comedic material. Aimed at beginners, it provides a supportive and interactive environment where students can explore the nuances of humor, develop their unique comedic voice, and learn the essential speaking and performance skills required for stand-up comedy. Students will perform in a comedy night show for their studio project. The expenses cover workshops, one show ticket and transportation. Will possibly enroll more additional waitlisted students depending on the class size. No prior experience required.
Section 007 (2nd 7-weeks)
Topic: Visual Storytelling through Short Films: Capturing Shanghai
With Fabian Fröhlich /Thursdays 2:15-5:00pm
Course fee: TBD
Description:
This Experience Studio provides an exploration of the essential skills required to capture and create cinematic stories, which work on multiple platforms. Students will learn the fundamentals of visual storytelling and the technical aspects of short film production with limited resources through the framework of experience design. The course theme focuses on visualizing the character of the city Shanghai. Students will capture public spaces in Shanghai or create a Behind-the-scene video of local businesses. Throughout the Studio students will cover key areas such as cinematography, directing, and editing with PremierePro in service of designing and conveying a narrative experience of the city of Shanghai. Students will balance between creative vision and practical production skills, ensuring an understanding of both the artistic and technical sides of filmmaking. By the end of the Studio, students will have captured and presented an original experience of the city conveyed through the medium of filmmaking, including a short portfolio piece demonstrating their ability to create engaging and polished moving images.
Section 008 (2nd 7-weeks)
Topic: Sustainable Futures
With Lynn Lin /Fridays 2:15-5:00pm
Course fee: None
Description:
Future is not in fashion, but in demand. How to apply futures thinking as a method to envision sustainable futures and navigate ourselves through the complexity? This studio invites students to experience futures thinking process with the topic of sustainable living, from (re)framing the topic, to scanning signals in the city, neighbourhoods as well as a half-day trip to eco-village community in Shanghai suburbs, then synthesizing and envisoning futures. In-between, students will have the chance to play with future cards and build futuristic mindset. Students will design and produce a future envisioning workshop for their studio project.
Section 010 (1st 7-weeks)
Topic: Innovate for Good: Transforming the Retail Experience for a Social Enterprise
With Candy Yang /Fridays 2:15-5:00pm
Course fee: None
Description:
This experience studio invites you to explore retail experience design with the social enterprise Buy For Two. As China's largest O2O charity retail platform, Buy For Two operates 14 retail shops in Shanghai with expansion plans to Chengdu and Hangzhou, with 53% of their full-time workforce being individuals with disabilities. In this studio, students will learn about the day-to-day operations and understand the intricacies of building a profitable business for good. For the final project, students will design and develop a retail experience for both customers and employees, culminating in the creation of a pop-up shop.
Section 011 (1st 7-weeks)
Topic: Dine & Design: Crafting Meaningful, Immersive Culinary Experiences
With Meizhi Ng /Wednesdays 2:15-5:00pm
Course fee: 400 RMB
Description:
Whether it’s a homey dinner party where everyone leaves feeling like family, or a Michelin-Star restaurant breaking culinary bounds, in this studio, we will examine the age-old art of the dinner. What is it about the food, the people, and the vibe that make some dinners so magical? How do you build partnerships in the city, source a venue, develop a concept, and execute a dinner pop-up? Students will produce their own one-night dinner pop-up at the end of the course for their studio project.
Section 012 (1st 7-weeks)
Topic: Digital Branding
With Phoebe Ba / Thursdays 2:15-5:00pm
Course fee: 1065 RMB
Description:
Amidst the surge of content creators chasing trends and followers, how does one not lose one's identity in the social media world? This studio invites students to go behind the scenes with the Traveling Qipao, a travel influencer, and understand how to collaborate with partners that align with your own brand. Students will gain insights into how storytelling shapes a brand's content creation. As part of the studio project, students will develop their own digital brand.
Section 013 (1st 7-weeks)
Topic: Bicycle Kingdom: The Business and Culture of Bicycles in Shanghai
With David Wang / Fridays 12:45-3:30pm
Course fee: 500 RMB
Description:
China was once celebrated as the "bicycle kingdom of the world" as it created massive cycling infrastructure, manufactured the vast majority of the world's bikes, and the most cyclist-commuters in history. Yet, today the bicycle is no longer the mobility aspiration for consumers, workers, nor families. What's changed? In this course, we use market research, product design, and hands-on fabrication skills to explore today's cycling culture in Shanghai and envision its future. Students will be asked to go into the field to identify mobility behaviors and needs of today's consumer, and then innovate cycling solutions to support these needs. Classes will be held at a grassroots, local bike shop, Brook & Breeze.
Section 014 (1st 7-weeks)
Topic: Food Stories
With Emily Tsiang /Fridays 2:15-5:00pm
Course fee: TBD
Description:
Have you ever wondered what stories lie behind the foodie spots you love? This studio focuses on the art of designing immersive food tour experiences. Students will explore the narratives behind a local food scene, uncovering cultural and historical contexts while crafting sensory-rich tours that showcase a unique part of the city. Through field research and experience design frameworks, students will learn to create culinary journeys that offer participants a deeper connection to the city.