I had accepted a Full Time Assistant Professor position at the American University of Beirut, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, for teaching an elective, a Mobilities seminar, + a design studio (space + culture + digital) and was preparing my move. I am really sorry about the unfolding appalling tragedy and I am hoping this will end soon (I can’t complain, I am not there).

I was thinking of ways to work this out… These events triggered the idea of teaching the mobilities seminar and the design studio remotely using video conference technologies. I have already participated in a similar experiment during my time at MIT when I took a charrette taught by Charles Correa in collaboration with METU, a Turkish University. It was such an amazing experience, that I am convinced of its feasibility. Furthermore, a Doctor of Design, Janine Clifford became famous among our community of Doctoral students and candidates because she did her entire thesis remotely and taught distant classes and studios. Beyond the fear factor, it became clear that it is a fantastic opportunity to teach design and convey knowledge of the design process (what drawing to select, collaboration, time management…) at the time of digital technologies.

I am now even more convinced that this idea has tremendous pedagogical values and will promote further thinking in terms of technology, space and culture including notion of territoriality (what is a territory at the time of Internet?), physical, mental and digital mobilities, the social context, and policies which we all know now challenges the profession or architecture and design. This is the class that was missing to the curriculum.

Students could learn about technology by practicing. The school could still operate at a normal pace, even if I am not physically present. Showing that the school can operate no matter what could become an example to follow and trigger some thinking about the digital transgression of boundaries as it is a response to a time when mobilities are reduced. The experiment will interest different disciplines, which will enable students to familiarize with the idea of collaboration…

Anyway, I have been told that “Video conferencing could work if we have someone like you here to supervise the courses with someone in another university. And we don’t have someone like you at this end.” I am not so sure of the need of two people. It doesn’t look like it is going to happen.