PESH 172: Outdoor Education


Senior Instructor Geoff Morrow ’07, ’09, teaches a class that develops the foundational skills for trip planning, preparation and environmental ethics for


backcountry travel, including whitewater rafting, camping and backpacking.


Students learn basic trip planning, gear selection, risk management and Leave No Trace principles through hands-on instruction. The course culminates in a three-day expedition featuring whitewater rafting, backpacking and primitive camping.


Students get an immersive virtual reality experience in ARTH 341. They can digitally explore ancient Greek and Roman art and architecture.


His students like the attention to detail and getting out of their comfort zone to spend time in the outdoors with other students. Many found it fun and thought provoking.


ARTH 341: Art History


Associate Professor of Fine Arts Kyle Sweeney teaches an art history course that invites students to explore ancient Greek and Roman art and architecture from the Bronze


Age through the Late Roman Empire. They focus on sculpture, painting, and public and private architecture.


Along with lectures, Sweeney incorporates immersive virtual reality experiences that allow students to explore digitally reconstructed ancient sites at full scale, including iconic spaces such as the Athenian Acropolis and Roman Forum. By virtually moving through these spaces using virtual reality headsets, students gain a clearer understanding of architectural scale, spatial


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relationships and decorative elements in ways that go beyond static images.


Sweeney said the integration of the virtual reality technology enhances visual learning and critical analysis, making the ancient world more immediate and accessible while offering students a compelling new way to engage with the material.


Students who are visual learners said the technology allowed them to immerse themselves in the locations, adding a layer of depth to their understanding and learning. One student felt as though the class had been transported back in time. “This was a major improvement compared to just trying to understand the size and scope based off sketches and photographs of the buildings,” one student wrote in the course evaluation.


“The reflections and discussions following the trip helped to gather different perspectives about the trip and allowed us, as students, to find more in common,” wrote one student. It also helped them reconnect with the outdoors and moved them away from the fast-paced, high stress typical college life.


BADM 571: M.B.A., Advanced Analytics and Visualization


Adjunct Professor Erin Patel ’07, ’09, decided after touring an exhibit by graphic designer and art director Alexey Brodovitch in the Philadelphia Barnes Museum that she needed to do more to teach her students about the principles of design.


Often in analytics and data visualization, she felt that users may want to combine and synthesize data from multiple sources and build a story or dashboard around one idea.


So, she helped create a joint experience for the graphic design club and M.B.A. students.


She asked the design students to critique one of her visualizations, looking at color choices, fonts, how the visualizations were interpreted, and how to make the visualization better. She shared how the feedback from the art students improved her work and discussed how to give and receive constructive feedback.


Partnering with the Barnes Museum’s education department, the M.B.A. class evolved again. Now students learn from a docent on an interactive field trip that highlights how the Barnes Method builds a strong foundation in visual storytelling.


PESH 172 students take learning outdoors. The class culminates in a three-day camping trip that includes whitewater rafting.


One student learned that storytelling transcends data presentation. “I now view effective visualization as less about selecting the right chart type and more about crafting a message that moves the audience from passive observation to actionable understanding.”


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