Sol LeWitt famously said that “ideas are machines for making art.” Integrative Seminar 1 awakens the possibilities of writing as an exciting, dynamic source of inspiration. It can be an experimental space full of play and invention. It can be a formal and rigorous space for debate. It can be a tool used to process, explore, express or reflect. Writing does not simply represent thought, it is a catalyst to form thought. In this course you will be introduced to a diverse range of texts (fiction, non-fiction, poetry, journalism, theory) in order to consider the expressive possibilities of language. Class discussions will examine how writing conveys ideas and emotions. They will also make room for your voice to enter into larger critical and creative conversations. At the heart of the integrative model is the connection to your Integrative Studio class. Our goal is to make reading, writing and critical thinking essential components of the art, design and strategic thinking processes. The two courses are tied together conceptually through a shared theme (as defined by the keyword of your class) and through bridge projects. Bridge projects are shared assignments between studio and seminar. They ask you to explicitly and productively blur the boundaries between the two courses. What happens when writing becomes a form of making, and making becomes a form of thinking? This section will be framed through the keyword “fake.” How do we define what is fake and what is real, and what are the various values we attribute to these categories? Through the lens of Fake, we explore the ways that ideas, images and objects can be used – positively and negatively – to produce alternative forms of knowledge and views of reality.