Exhibition Information

The Common Problem Pedagogy: COVID-19
May - June

This Spring 2020 CPP collaboration brought together art students from ATS 320, Graphic Design II, and physics students from PHY 203, Principles of Physics III. The theme of this collaborative effort was broadly centered on issues of social or environmental concern, though the immediacy of the COVID-19 pandemic naturally led all projects to turn toward discussions of this global crisis. Central to this work is the idea that we are not subject to the whims of nature but have some ability to control our reality.

The students examined society's ability to shape the future through the lens of government and social policies that affect outcomes like the magnitude and duration of the pandemic. These studies were guided by three questions: (a) How do social distancing and quarantine affect the spread of COVID-19? (b) How does the availability of medical resources (staffing, hospital beds, ventilators, masks, gowns, etc.) affect the propagation of COVID-19? and (c) How will social distancing and quarantine affect the economy and what can the federal government do to counteract these financial stresses?

The physics students discussed and created numerical models that were used to analyze the consequences of our actions, and then communicated these ideas to the graphic design students in the form of technical reports. The graphic design students then analyzed these reports and created interpretations of the meaning in the form of posters to communicate these ideas with a public audience. The final product of this collaboration is a series of 17x23 inches posters.

The Common Problem Pedagogy (CPP) project aims to stimulate creative thinking through problem-based learning, foster communications between the sciences and the arts, strengthen multidisciplinary research collaboration, and create a more STEM-literate public.

Participating students:

Jaclyn Aloia, Gabriel Bowen, Stephen Buscemi, Brianna Cancilla, Gregory Cassiano, Joseph Cirillo, Emily DeClerck , Sierra Dell, Jose Diaz-Duran, Tyler Edgar, Leah Eisele, John Figary, Francis Fruehan, Alexandra Gentner, Jason Gonch, Jenna Hood, Samantha Januszewski, Victoria Killfeather, Sean Lally, Lauren Lloyd, Robert McCormick, Morgan McDonald, Cristian Padilla, Claritza Rodriguez, Kayla Sarner, Julianne Statler, Taylor Strawbrich, Avery Tompkins, Abdoulaye Toure, Dakota Wagner   

Special thanks to Dean Mattingly and Assistant Dean McGuire for supporting the CPP project at SUNY Cortland.