This doctoral seminar has a twofold aim: (1) to develop an in-depth understanding of walking practices and critical walking methodologies across diverse contexts and geographies through theory sessions; and (2) to practise critical walking in walking seminars as a method for generating, communicating, and sharing one’s own research.
The seminar develops walking as an Urmethode in landscape and urban research, treating site as the primary locus of inquiry and walking as the core of fieldwork from which other spatial methods emerge. Through alternating theory sessions and walking seminars, participants engage critically with key texts and precedents on walking theories and practices while experimenting with mobile and multisensory ethnographies (audiovisual, digital, sensory/embodied, participatory) that move beyond sedentary, static approaches. Emphasis is placed on immersive and critical engagement with diverse landscapes and on translating situated field encounters into rigorous analytical writing and public-facing formats.
The seminar alternates between theory and walking sessions. Theory sessions begin with a short input followed by participant-led, in-depth discussion of key texts. Walking sessions are seminars on the move, where participants share ongoing work and engage in structured, collegial exchange and critique. Invited guests will share their perspectives and contribute to hands-on writing and peer-review sessions. Short writing assignments accompany selected sessions, culminating in a single integrative submission at the end of the semester. The seminar concludes with a final crit, where participants present work-in-progress and reflect collectively on their methods, findings, and modes of dissemination.
19.02. Introduction to Critical Walking
26.02. Ways of Walking | Marie-Anne Lerjen (WALK 1)
05.03. Walking as Mapping
12.03. Crossing and Reimagining | Patrick Düblin
26.03. Footnotes: Reflections on Walking, Writing, and the Arts of Noticing | Matthew Ashton
02.04. Peripatetic Exchange (WALK 3)
16.04. walking sediments | Jan Hostettler
23.04. Being There. Three Modes of Walking in Urban Naturecultural Places | Michele Porcelluzzi
30.04. Walking as Research
07.05. Itinerary Crit (WALK 4)