How do key areas of psychology such as attention, perception, and memory shape our understanding of reality? How can experiences with art help us understand others’ “realities,” as well as our own? What is the value of integrating these disciplines so that we can better investigate and understand these complex questions?
In Fall 2024, as part of an initiative to revamp first-year seminars to explore “Big Questions” in the College of Arts and Sciences and supported by a grant from the Office of the Provost, Professor Almut Hupbach (Psychology) and Professor of Practice William Crow (Art, Architecture and Design) designed and co-taught What is Reality? Thirty-two first-year students interrogated this timeless question through art and museum experiences, exploration of cognitive processes and underlying brain mechanisms, and hands-on experiential learning.
Inspired by educator and cartoonist Lynda Barry, students kept diaries of their daily experiences, capturing what they saw, did and heard. The diaries also served as a repository for all class activities and lectures, ranging from experiments in photography to memory mapping. This exhibition features a page selected by each student, accompanied by their reflections, that reveal diverse explorations of “reality.”
Students include: Nova Afber, Marisela Barrutia, Alex Boyle, Olivia Camarinha, Hadassah Chuks, Amelia Crosby, Matthew D'Avino, Chloe DelNegro, Cris Duran, Wrigley Fanter, Sophie Gangloff, Annie Gao, Jacqueline Gifford, Garrett Guess, Olivia Hayes, Shoaa Khan, Zara Lim, Sophie Mallek, Kylie Menton, Chiara Nardone-Gross, Dylan Newman, Kevin O'Donoghue, Abigail Perrine, Gia Polizzi, Austin Quandt, Megan Reif, Jack Rinaldi, Julia Salinero, Aiden Schomp, Leah Strasser, Ilyssa Tarr, and Brayden Wasserman.
