Graeme Fishman, He/Him/His
My name is Graeme Fishman and I am in my third year of the Arts and Science program at McMaster University.
My program is quite academic in nature, so having the opportunity to work on tangible projects for the City has been a unique and refreshing experience. CityLAB Semester in Residence has been an extraordinary exercise in problem solving and collaboration which far surpasses any experience available in the typical classroom environment. Semester in Residence allows students to discover how they learn best in a project-based learning environment. The experiential nature of the program means that students can learn from participating in real, important projects, and can use their own experience and background to make positive change in their communities.
As someone interested in pursuing education in architecture, I find the four main courses of CityLAB to be highly relevant and deeply valuable: Design, Dialogue, Project Management and City Building. Each of these courses has helped me think about architecture and urban design in new ways, and being able to apply these skills to real-world projects has helped to reinforce these lessons.