Welcome to the 2021–22 academic year! After a long 18 months, our return to campus has begun, and I am excited to see new and familiar (masked) faces in Knowlton Hall.
In response to student demand for in-person interactions, we bookended the summer with two gatherings. Last May, we celebrated commencement with the class of 2021, and this semester the student organizations will usher in another exciting year with the traditional Welcome (Back) event.
In prior years, we marked the beginning of instruction with a large gathering on the big stairs, where section heads and faculty announced news and initiatives. This autumn, we felt that such large and proximate assemblies would put undue strain on the health of our community, and potentially jeopardize in-person instruction. Our primary mission is to teach and learn in a safe environment, so I am communicating this semester's main announcements here:
First, it is my pleasure to introduce three new faculty. Please join me in welcoming Marta Nowak (Christos Yessios Digital Fabrication Assistant Professor of Architecture), Iman Ansari (Assistant Professor of Architecture), and Zelig Fok (2021–22 LeFevre Fellow).
In addition, we are pleased to announce that
- Michael Murphy of MASS Design Group will be this year’s Baumer Distinguished Visiting Professor and take part in a seminar led by Karen Lewis
- We are launching the Midwest Landscape Lab (MidLL) under the coordination of Katie Jenkins and Brendan Ayer
The Baumer Series—organized by Erik Herrmann, John Davis, and Jesus Lara—will remain (mostly) remote through the end of the autumn term. This series brings leading voices in our disciplines to Knowlton to engage topics both topical and enduring. Last year's recorded Baumer Conversations reached a wide audience with a diversity of perspectives and practices. I encourage you to watch them now as they point to important cross-disciplinary issues. As a reminder, this year's presentations occur on Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m.: make sure to tune in!
After a purely digital existence during the last year and a half, I am happy to announce that the Banvard Gallery has re-opened its doors with Tameka Sims’s Fabricated Landscapes Lab. Sims will be leading a workshop as part of her exhibition on September 18—keep an eye out. Gallery coordinator Sandhya Kochar will implement a full calendar of exhibitions by Landscape Section Head Kristi Cheramie, Moody Nolan President and CEO Jonathan Moody, and Pascale Sablan.
Be sure to review Safe and Healthy Buckeyes and Keep Learning, Teaching, and Working for information and resources regarding COVID-19.
Stay connected. Stay safe.
— August 23, 2021
Dorothée Imbert
Director,
Hubert C. Schmidt '38 Chair of Landscape Architecture, Knowlton School
