Aesthetics and Academic Spaces

02/27/25 • 22 min

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In this episode, Sarah and Jackie explore newly renovated classrooms and traditional academic hallways around Columbia University’s Teachers College campus. Join them as they encounter curriculum in the aesthetics of these spaces and how design choices affect what we know about being a student and learner. Stay tuned to imagine ways of intervening in the design elements in your curricular spaces.

Curriculum Encounters is produced by the Digital Futures Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University.

The views expressed in this episode are solely those of the speaker to whom they are attributed. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the faculty, administration, staff or Trustees either of Teachers College or of Columbia University.

Curriculum Encounters is produced by the Digital Futures Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Previous Episode

Welcome to Curriculum Encounters!

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In this introduction to Curriculum Encounters, hosts Jackie Simmons and Sarah Gerth van den Berg invite you to embark on a provocative journey through the world of experiential learning. As curriculum design experts at Columbia University’s Teachers College, Jackie and Sarah have reimagined the Black Paint Curriculum Lab, bringing it back in an exciting new format that promises to challenge conventional thinking about curriculum.

Season One explores aesthetics and academic spaces, memory and hidden spaces, sensory inquiry and social spaces. Join them as they explore the concept of learning inside and beyond classroom walls.

Whether you’re an educator, a student, or simply someone curious about the nature of knowledge, this podcast is designed for you. Jackie and Sarah will pose thought-provoking questions about what we know, how we come to know it, and the implications for teaching and learning in today’s dynamic world.

Tune in to discover how to cultivate a richer, more inclusive learning environment and to rethink the spaces where education can thrive. Don’t miss out—follow the show and be part of the conversation that explores knowledge, wherever you find it!

Curriculum Encounters is produced by the Digital Futures Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University.

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Next Episode

Memory and Hidden Spaces

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In this episode, Jackie and Sarah take listeners to “hidden” spaces on campus, including an old gym track that was converted to academic offices and a closed-off pool in the basement of Teachers College. Through the emotions and memories that arise in these encounters, they consider the impact of curricular “ghosts” and possibilities for personal histories and feelings in curriculum.

To learn more about the history of the hidden spaces mentioned in this episode, check out these articles from the archives of the Teachers College Newsroom:

Sweating the Details. Published February 9, 2012 by Patricia Lamiell. A brief history of physical education at Teachers College. Available at: https://www.tc.columbia.edu/articles/2011/october/sweating-the-details/
Come On In, The Water's Fine, Published August 20, 2007. A brief history of the Teachers College swimming pool. Available at: https://www.tc.columbia.edu/articles/2007/august/come-on-in-the-waters-fine/
Caverns, Corners, Connections. Published by Digital Futures Institute. A website documenting Teachers College’s physical spaces. Available at: https://cavernscornersconnections.weebly.com/place.html

A special shoutout to Professor Emerita Nancy Lesko who inspired this episode and continually provokes our encounters with the hidden curriculum.

Curriculum Encounters is produced by the Digital Futures Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University.