Walking with Public Art: Immersive Learning as Public Scholars

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This course is led by  Dr. Anita Sinner

• Course dates: May 11, 2025 – June 20, 2025
• Travel dates: May 11, 2025 – May 21, 2025 (tentative)
• Format: In-person and online
• Locations visited: Bogota (Colombia)

This Go Global Seminar offers an innovative approach to knowledge diplomacy, informed by the UN’s Global Citizenship framework, to bring trans-perspectives that advance transdisciplinary, transnational, translanguaging and transmedia approaches to 21st C learning in an experiential art as research learning opportunity.  

In May 2025, the Bogota Museum of Modern Art (MAMBO) Research Center will host a collaborative week of activities involving researchers and students from The University of British Columbia (Canada), Helwan University (Egypt), and University of the Andes (Colombia) and key museums in Bogota. This initiative aligns with MAMBO’s mission to foster knowledge and co-creation spaces through academic activities and artistic research workshops in partnership with international universities and local museum networks to establish public scholarship as a core competency.  

Students will form collaborative teams for an intensive week studying public art as a pedagogic prompt through site visits to key museums in Bogota, concluding the week with a research seminar delivered to international faculty and an exhibition of work-in-progress. Upon returning to UBC, students will continue to collaborate to prepare a team podcast for MAMBO’s Educational Department, and a final team paper for publication in the University of Andes’ student research journal.  

The course will provide a practical and real-world environment for students to engage in research, dialogue and artistic exploration. Key activities will include collaborative research projects, interactive workshops with artists-in-residence, and creative sessions aimed at developing co-creation skills and promoting innovative approaches to art and museum studies. This immersive experience will enrich student understandings of the role of art in society and contribute to the academic and professional discourse in education, and art education specifically.