Rome Undergraduate Planning Workshop: A Reflexive Approach to Neighborhood Studies

This workshop attempts to bridge the gap between theory and practice by using a reflexive pedagogical approach. The workshop takes undergraduate American urban studies students and assists them through a structured progression of pedagogical exercises critical to an understanding of place and urban processes. The pedagogy draws from theories of reflexive and experiential learning from Argysis and Scho¨n, Kolb and Lynch, to help students overcome challenges to learning in an unfamiliar cultural/linguistic environment. This reflexive approach emphasizes the importance of structuring exercises combining experiential learning, observation, coding and reflection to help students develop a practically-oriented understanding of the role of planning in a complex urban environment.