CAT 124

CAT 124 courses bring together an interdisciplinary faculty to expound on culture, art, and technology themes, examining different topics each quarter, through distinct experiential learning opportunities. These classes fulfill the experiential learning requirement and are open to students in all departments and fields. Students must request departmental approval through the Enrollment Authorization System in order to enroll in CAT 124.

Winter 2025 Courses

CAT 124: Earth and Water: We Are the Watershed

Kristen Goodrich

Lecturer, CAT

Tuesday/Thursday 11:00 a.m.-12:20 p.m.

In this four-unit experiential learning course, students will explore issues related to water resources with a focus on local watersheds, including the Tijuana River. By examining the relationship between ecological and community health and wellbeing, students will develop their own "water stories"—reflecting on experiences and places that may hold personal and cultural meaning for them—and that will ultimately be conveyed through artistic mediums. Through writing, group discussions, workshops and mural design (and eventual implementation), students will gain exposure to interdisciplinary thinking and orientations, critical understanding of watershed dynamics, including the human dimensions, and experience with a process of creating public art installations that play a role in social justice and collective healing. Throughout the course, students will have the unique opportunity to engage and collaborate with high school students at the Preuss School on UC San Diego's campus on the mural proposal.

This course was developed with the support of a grant from the Open Society Foundation, authored by renowned muralist and co-instructor Jay Wolf Schlossberg-Cohen.

CAT 124: CATalyzing Community: Connection and Place-Making at Sixth College

Bill Robertson Geibel

Assistant Teaching Professor, CAT

Tuesday/Thursday 9:30-10:50 a.m.

In this four-unit experiential learning course, students will be tasked with finding ways to enhance the Sixth College community and student experience. Using models of leadership, community building, and social change as guides, students will begin by engaging in social research to identify issues, challenges, or shortcomings that may exist at the college. Students will then learn about various theories of change and ways of addressing social problems. The goal is for students to develop their own solutions to the problems they have identified. At the end of the course, students will present their research and proposed solutions in a Shark Tank-like event, the Purr-suasion Den, to an audience of university staff and administrators.