The interdisciplinary postgraduate program by the Independent School for the City is focused on exploring one of the most relevant topics in contemporary Urban Development theory and practice: the transient nature of the city, its dynamics and permanent temporality and the constant mobility of people, knowledge, money, birds and plants, regulations and policies. The program will consist of three educational Blocks.
The first part of the curriculum is based in Rotterdam and contains a series of masterclasses, aimed at learning various research skills from a variety of disciplines such as (historical) research, spatial analysis, urban design, sociology, photography, film etc.
During the second block the students will spread around the world to visit one of our international partners, with whom they further develop their research in the social-spatial context of the specific location they are at. They will use the tools they have mastered during the first block and combine them with the expertise on site. The period in the field will be organized in such a way that the students as well as the organizations involved will benefit from the collaboration.
The final and third block will bring the students back to Rotterdam, where they will process their findings in order to show and communicate their work to the world. Just as during the first part, this is done through a series of masterclasses and workshops in which the students will learn to present their work in different ways; in an exhibition, a publication, an article, a film, etc.
The Independent School is assisted substantively by an interdisciplinary group of experts who are also Masters in the Curriculum. They will lead a series of masterclasses and workshops, which are aimed at learning various research skills from a variety of disciplines such as (historical and sociological) research, spatial and visual analysis, urban design, photography, film etc. The group of masters is made up by: Herman Kossmann, Jord den Hollander, Arnold Reijndorp, Gerard Hadders, Edith Gruson, Thijs Barendse, Crimson Historians & Urbanists and ZUS.
