The architectural realm crept up on me slowly. My father, a fantastic amateur artist, certainly had a love and appreciation for built forms; he renovated the interior of my childhood home to imitate an aged Tuscan villa, complete with columns, arches, and Roman figures- he’s always favored classical aesthetics. In my youth I was also lucky enough to experience incredible architectural monuments in New York, London, and Paris. My own interest in architecture came to light when, as an undergraduate, I found a passion for photography and realized that architectural elements were the most frequent subjects in my images. Then, in graduate school I discovered that scholars were applying psychological and neurophysiological research to built environments; immediately, I was seized with the notion of applying empirical research to improve the design of school facilities and classrooms.
As a 4th year doctoral student in School Psychology, my goal is to begin my career as a school-based psychologist and eventually engage in part-time work as a design consultant with a unique background in psychology, education, and neuroscience. My hope for this role is to be able to educate stakeholders who design and plan new K-12 school facilities. In pursuit of this, I am completing coursework for a multi-disciplinary minor in Neuroscience and Architecture, which reflects an emerging field called Neuro-Architecture that applies neuroscience methodologies to explore how architecture and design affect the human nervous system.
At present, I am preparing to propose my research to my dissertation committee and expect to collect my survey-based data by the end of May 2016. My research is focused on exploring the preferences of high school students regarding an architectural design philosophy called Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED). I hope to reveal whether students perceive schools designed with CPTED as safer or more psychologically comfortable, respectively. My other scholarly interests applicable to school design include restorative environments, supporting active learning, design for special education, and other topics; as a result, the CAE conference will provide an excellent opportunity to access experts and discuss ideas, thoughts, and innovations in effective school design, which will help orient me toward a future career in this field.
Attendance of CAE's Berlin conference will also be of great value to me in extending my familiarity with education design and international perspectives on school facilities. As an outsider to architecture and design, I have had few opportunities of this magnitude to network and interact with architects and expanding my design knowledge base; in addition, I am still a student working towards my career, thus the conference will be a foundational component of my professional development.
The U.S. is currently in a period of great pedagogical/educational reform, and as old schools are replaced with newly-designed schools it is important that the new spaces accommodate progressive teaching and learning strategies. Learning about these topics at the Spring CAE conference will be of use in understanding what is needed to design schools that flex alongside changing educational philosophies and methods. In addition, Germany is known internationally for its excellent educational system, and I look forward to learning first hand from their unique approaches to education. This will serve to further expand my knowledge of different approaches to education and learning environments.
I am extremely grateful to the AIA and Committee on Architecture for Education for this travel scholarship opportunity. I look forward to CAE’s Berlin conference and I’m confident it will provide excellent professional growth and development.