The MUSE system and the science materials, equipment, and collections is a new model for semi-permanent and movable science classroom and lab space that will allow flexibility and innovation in bringing science both into and out of the classroom, the laboratory, the field, and the studio.
These mobile structures consist of portable kits and scientific equipment that can be deployed in the studio and in science classes, providing students with tools and facilities that may not otherwise be available to them. The kits are flexible enough to provide equipment, materials, and supplies that expand students’ knowledge of physical and life sciences.
The units are available to any CCA faculty member or student who attends training workshops on their use. The CCA library provides a permanent storage, display, and work site for the school’s science materials, centralizing these resources in a location utilized by students and faculty from all of CCA’s 21 undergraduate and 13 graduate majors.
By increasing faculty and student access to scientific materials, equipment, and collections, the MUSE blurs the boundaries between the science classroom and the studio, inspired by the joy of discovery and wonder at the natural world. The aim of the MUSE is two-fold: to improve the quality of science instruction in science courses at CCA and to integrate science more fully into the studio curricula.
The design of MUSE units and their library installation were created in 2015 by students in an upper-division Furniture Production class under the guidance of Russell Baldon (Chair, Furniture) and visiting professor Allan Wexler (Parsons The New School for Design), as well as Christine Metzger (Assistant Professor, Critical Studies).