8 minute read
A Custom Community
By Dr. Katie Sullivan Barak, Associate Director, Center for Interdisciplinary Inquiry, Academic Programs
Students in the Custom-Designed Major are perpetually curious which means they are comfortable asking questions and engaging in discussions about unfamiliar topics. They are earnest about their interests, keen to share what they know and explore possible connections. They care a lot about the world and see themselves as active agents of change, responsible for making a difference and accountable to future generations.
Pennoni Honors College, home to the Custom-Designed Major (CSDN) for going on 13 years, provides space for students to build their own major, forging an academic path that brings together multiple disciplines without mirroring existing combinations of majors and minors. Recent graduates have created majors called “NatureIntegrated Design,” “Social Activism,” and “Food History and Nutritional Anthropology.”
But sometimes going off the beaten path and carving an individualized plan of study can be alienating. Dr. Kevin Egan, who helped launch the major in 2011, jokingly calls CSDN “the island of misfit toys,” referencing the 1964 holiday film Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. The phrase, used metaphorically, now describes a situation where people don’t fit in elsewhere. While I agree that we host a motley crew of creative thinkers, the “island” part of the comparison always gives me pause. I have been working with these students for the past five years, serving as their advisor and professor. In this role, I support them from the inception of their major through their senior capstone project. On the one hand, our academic island provides CSDN students with support and space to conduct their interdisciplinary exploration. On the other hand, an island is isolated. Because each student’s path is unique, they take most of their classes in multiple colleges across Drexel but exist outside those student cohorts. It can be hard to feel connected when each person in the major is striking out on an individualized path. Which is why those of us working with these remarkable students have been intentional in fostering a CSDN community.
Core courses and milestones offer structural points to bring CSDN students together. These shared experiences have been central to the major since its inception. One such experience is the senior year capstone project. Every student in the major conducts a self-directed, nine-month-long project; the topic and related deliverables must encapsulate the knowledge, skills, and experiences they cultivate during their time at Drexel.
During the first two terms of capstone work, students must present their in-progress work at a Crit Session. They are tasked with explaining their project, detailing the work they did over the term, and tying it back to their overall custom major. The audience is intentionally general, coming from across Drexel’s faculty, staff, and current students. This means students must consciously speak accessibly to people they may or may not know who may or may not know anything about any of their disciplines. It is challenging, but the ability to communicate efficiently and tailor messaging to an audience are hallmark requirements of the major.
Again, given the highly individualized nature of their research, no two capstone projects are alike. The student studying “Nature-Integrated Design” designed a chandelier with algae living inside of ornamental beakers hung on its perimeter; her goal was to infuse biophilic design in spaces where nature is often absent. The culminating project for the “Social Activism” student was to create a zine to spread awareness about relational activism, which uses relationships, local communities, and daily practices as foundations for long-term social and environmental change. The student investigating “Food History and Nutritional Anthropology” researched, developed, and prepared a historical tasting menu based on the different people and cultures in the Philadelphia area, starting with the Lenni Lenape. As you can see, these projects are rich, interesting, and deeply personal.
The crit sessions are milestones, marking the student’s progress through their capstone project as well as their proximity to graduation. There is vulnerability because the work is in early or mid-stages, just taking shape or barely a revised draft. There is frenetic energy as the audience offers comments, asks questions, and possibly opens new paths of inquiry previously unexplored. And there are nerves because public speaking makes most of us sweat. It is an intense set of peaks building toward the final summit, and it is a climb that every CSDN student must make.
With all of this in mind, we decided to make the end-of-term Crit Session, held in early December, a mooring point for community building. We invited CSDN alumni back to campus to provide feedback and share their expertise with current students. The intent was three-fold: First, we hoped alums would feel celebrated for their impact on the evolution the major has undergone. Second, we wanted current students to see they are part of a growing Custom-Designed network that extends beyond their time in undergrad. The third intention was to kick off an annual tradition focused on intergenerational community, service and connection.
Eleven seniors conducted poster presentations in the classrooms and surrounding area. Eighty-five guests, including faculty, staff, and current students, attended the Crit Session. Of those, 21 were returning alums.
Ariana Scheuer, class of 2024 and one of the seniors who presented at the Crit Session, remarked with similar sentiments, “Having an event that celebrated our in-progress work, while surrounded by our Drexel community and supported by past Custom students offered a sense of connection that is sometimes lost during the process of working on a project independently.”
“Having an event that celebrated our in-progress work, while surrounded by our Drexel community and supported by past Custom students offered a sense of connection that is sometimes lost during the process of working on a project independently.”
As a thank you to the alums for their return to campus and to celebrate the seniors’ hard work on their capstone projects, we hosted an afterparty with food, drink and Pennoni-branded gifts. Kevin wrote trivia questions about Custom-Designed history and pop culture. Current students and alums teamed up and attempted to best each other for the grand prize of bragging rights and a certificate confirming their awesomeness. Chelsea Amanatides, class of 2014, was one of the first students to graduate from CSDN. "It was so inspiring to see all the people at this event, both current and past students. When I graduated, there were just a few of us, and now there are so many! I'm proud to be an alum of this program that continues to grow and continues to inspire learning across disciplines."
Looking around the room, Kevin noted there were times he would see an alum talking with a current student, and it felt like they had always known each other. “I didn't give it a second thought — it didn't even register with me that they weren't from the same year. Seeing that made me realize that the commonality of being a Custom-Designed student creates an immediate bond that transcends time and the diversity of things they pursue.” The newest academic advisor, Charlotte Shreve, joined the staff in late 2022. For her, seeing a budding community alongside prevailing camaraderie years after their graduation was particularly moving.
Crafting a paper quilt provided guests the chance to express their feelings about CSDN through color and shape on small squares of cardstock. Individual 2-by-2 squares tell one person’s story, but together the full-sized mosaic showcases the cultivation of careers, ornamented by themes of warmth, growth and silliness. That same vitality spilled out into the Bentley stairwell, where the group packed in for a photo, capturing 10 years of students and alums smashed into the space and yelling the word “Party!”
The Custom-Designed major may indeed be an “island of misfit toys,” but it doesn’t have to be isolated. Diraya Serrano-Geigel, class of 2024 and one of the seniors who presented at the Crit Session, shared, “As someone who feels like they always stick out, the afterparty felt like a big family reunion. Even though I didn’t know everyone, every person I met had stories to tell about their time in CustomDesigned.” We consider this event a success and are already planning Winter 2024’s Crit Session and afterparty. We haven’t yet graduated our 14 seniors, but I’m already looking forward to welcoming them back as alums to support the next generation of Custom-Designed seniors.
