Over the Wintersession 2026, BRACKISH put together a series of workshops that take the Providence River as case study to explore the ways its hydrological, ecological and socio-historical forces impact the human and more-than-human lives of Providence and beyond.
The BRACKISH Team was also very excited to put together a Bonus Workshop that centres embodied learning, with three different modes of learning with our hands: Clay (Mary), Soil (Wu) and Paper-Making (Julæ).
Workshop 1: Introduction: River as System / Water as Actor
The first workshop introduced students to the ecology and history of the Providence River as well as the “Actor Network Theory” which gives students a valuable academic tool in investigating and understanding the ways in which different human and non-human actors impact the functioning of the world around us.
Workshop 2: Symbiotic Speculations at the Nature Lab
This workshop challenged the Green Team Youth to put on their detective hats and figure out how species interact with and rely on each other.
At the Edna W. Lawrence RISD Nature Lab, BRACKISH organised a series of speculative drawing exercises that centred around the concepts of mutualism, commensalism and parasitism.
The drawing exercises emphasised the significance of thinking through possibilities and the powers of observation.
Bonus Workshop: Paper+Soil+Clay
An impromptu weekend workshop with three subject matters all anchored by the common thread of tactile learning.
Paper-making taught students the power of microscopic connections as well as the chemistry behind the hydrogen bond and properties of hydrostatic attraction between different fibres.
The Soil workshop worked with students to build a portable way to test toxins in the soil and how the pH test can be powerful tool in determining soil quality.
The Clay workshop taught students to immerse themselves in one of the most ancient and fundamental building materials. Just using their hands to mould the clay taught them about its material properties and gave them a deeper innate understanding of the subject matter.
Workshop 3: River Systems with the Em River Model
The students had the opportunity to work with the Em River Model during this workshop, getting a more tactile understanding of how hardened surfaces interact with hydrological forces to create erosion as well as test out different coastal resilience strategies in real time.