School of Commons

School of Commons (SoC) is an initiative dedicated to the study and development of self-directed Peer Learning, located at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK). The SOC community focuses on matters surrounding the production and mediation of knowledge with a common interest in self-directed practices and on collaborative and non-hierarchical forms of knowledge production.
Research is conducted in three labs (LEARN, MAPP, and READ), all of which are run as peer-based collaborative endeavours with annually changing members.

This project/initiative seemed interesting to me because it proposes an alternative approach to academic research. The three research labs (Mapp, Learn and Read) are open to all kinds of researchers, as the application is based on the project/research idea without asking for CV or other references and application from “people with underrepresented backgrounds, including (but not limited to) BAME, female, first-gen, and LGBTQIA+ persons as well as persons with disabilities” are encouraged. The open call can be an interesting opportunity for young professionals/researchers/artists that want to experiment with alternative ways of sharing knowledge.
Nevertheless it must be noted that even if this „free and alternative“ selection process exists, most of the contributors are people with a strong academic background.

The ways of working and producing knowledge, based on principles of self-directed, collaborative and non-hierarchical practices are the kind of initiatives we want to discover and promote in SHAKIN.
Moreover, the content of the published pieces also resonates with the issues we are sensitive to in SHAKIN as they address topics like archives, ecology, transcultural collaboration etc.

Location	Online Switzerland
Original language(s)	English
Existing translations
Length
Project runtime	-
Institution of affiliation	Zurich University of the Arts
Sponsor(s)

Name of contributor: Sonia Nikitin