Considering the Urban Farm Program and the Role of Place-Based Experiential Education in the Pedagogy of Landscape Architecture
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Date
2011
Authors
Keeler, Harper
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
The Urban Farm is both a place and a program, within the department of landscape architecture at the University of Oregon, where students have been learning to grow and think about food since 1976. As a place, the Urban Farm is an officially recognized outdoor classroom where students learn by doing. As a program in the department of landscape architecture, the Urban Farm functions as both a sequence of classes that teach large numbers of students throughout the year, but also a community information and networking hub dedicated to agrarian issues.
This project will investigate how the Urban Farm functions within the pedagogy of landscape architecture as a unique example of place-based experiential education grounded in the local agrarian vernacular. Additionally, this study will consider how the opportunity to study in a hands-on working example of urban agriculture can increase ecological literacy and in turn, better prepare future professionals.
The structure of this study will be to investigate the real and theoretical characteristics of place-based education, as an alternative to conventional hierarchal teaching systems and how these traits and themes are manifested at the Urban Farm. Informed by a literary review and using David Orr’s foundations for responsible ecological education as an organizing tool, a subsequent case study of the Urban Farm will then demonstrate how a unique, multidisciplinary, hands-on model of teaching enhances the pedagogy of landscape architecture. Specific themes and activities, both metaphorical and direct, which can be associated with the history and practice of landscape architecture and are also associated with the Urban Farm, will be presented These include; the history of the relationship between agriculture and landscape architecture and how this relationship can respond to new paradigms, the role of food and food systems in shaping material culture, the role of preserving cultural vernacular tradition and the understanding and preservation of natural resources as they pertain to foodsheds.
Finally, a synthesis of the opportunities and constraints that either supplement or hinder the implementation of ecologically responsible place-based landscape architecture education will be discussed and proposals will be suggested.
Description
126 pages
Keywords
landscape architecture, place-based, agriculture, urban farm, education, community