San Diego faculty member Megan Groth has been awarded the 2021 ACSA Course Development Prize in Architecture, Climate Change, and Society, in partnership with Columbia University’s Temple Hoyne Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture. Her course, one of five recognized with this national award, is titled Professional Practice 3: Future Practice. In addition to teaching, Megan is also the Practice Coordinator for all architecture programs.
As noted by the jury, these courses seek the kind of realism that redefines problems and leaves room for imagination. The courses will reach out with neighbors to cultivate skills fostering a more resilient society. Faculty will teach interdisciplinary courses learning from vernacular architecture to design affordable, low-tech, and climate-specific solutions. Students will learn to think beyond current modes of professional practice to develop new, just, environmentally attuned standards. Courses shed light on inequities in many responses to climate change for marginalized and underserved communities, allowing students to better prepare for new and needed approaches. The impact of pollution has altered the natural environment; through these courses, faculty will coach students in ways to assist in the repair of communities. Overall, faculty and students will use methods and themes that innovate within their institutional settings to address the intertwined causes and effects of climate change.
The jury selected five courses to receive a cash prize and support to lead their course at their host institution within the next two years. The five winning course proposals will be presented at the ACSA 109th Annual Meeting which will be held virtually March 24-26, 2021.
Chair Jose Parral notes that “in her new role as Practice Coordinator, Megan is helping to construct the school’s vision of the future of practice. Of particular interest to Megan is how the profession is rethought through cross-pollination of perspectives. In addition to her specialization in professional ethics, she is well versed in contemporary modalities of practice and profession-related issues student will face when they graduate.”
Read more about the course and award here.