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Ireland: Where art and nature come together. Art and Ecopsychology in Ireland is designed to introduce and strengthen students’ relationship to nature as it relates to their own artistic practice, and to embrace a new way of seeing the natural world through what they make. A focus on ecopsychology will expand students’ knowledge of mindfulness, ecology, and environmental sustainability. In partnership with our host organization, the Burren College of Art, students will have studio space to make their work and access to fellow art students and faculty at the college. Field trips to natural wonders like the Cliffs of Moher, the Caves at Ailwee, and the Aran Islands will expose students to dynamic landscapes where nature will inspire creativity. Guest lectures and visiting artists will include poets, painters, ecologists, and musicians. Students will work on a collaborative project with students from the Burren College of Art and return home with new artwork and new perspectives on the natural world.

Boston to Beijing: China through the Five Senses is a course designed to gain a deep, personal understanding of this beautiful country through the use of sight, sound, small, taste and touch. Engaging multiple senses leads to a more profound and intimate experience, creating stronger memories beyond the purely visual. This course will enrich students’ cultural experience by introducing to them China’s rich history and diverse art, artifacts, and architecture. Students’ full immersion of their senses in Chinese cities and villages will also enhance their understanding of this country’s current status and ongoing changes.

After a primer to contemporary Chinese culture in Beijing, we travel to Dunhuang, located in the Gobi Desert, along the ancient Silk Road, working with scholars and researchers from the Dunhuang Research Academy, as we tour the Mogao Caves, visit the expansive museum, and attend courses in traditional cave painting techniques, grinding minerals by hand to make pigment. From there, we travel 2100 years forward, back to contemporary Beijing, where we will visit the Great Wall of China, the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, the 798 Art District, and take excursions off the beaten path, immersing ourselves in the living history of village life.

Japanese traditional ceramics, with a distinctive use of materials, forms, and philosophy, has contributed to the development of American ceramic sculpture as fine art since the 1950’s. For American ceramicists, the decade of the 1950’s marks the beginning of a new openness to Japanese culture for inspiration and direction in the development of their work. The dialogue and exchanges between Japanese and American artists continues to influence a new generation of ceramicists from both countries.

While in Japan, students will have the unique opportunity to meet working ceramic artists and learn firsthand about both traditional and contemporary Japanese ceramics. Students visit museums, universities, temples, kiln sites and personally experience history that is thousands of years old. 

Check back in September for link to application!