ABSTRACT
This chapter offers a qualitative, ethnographic account of a BArch course that was designed and implemented by the author of the chapter, entitled Environment-Behavior Studies (EBS). This chapter describes the intellectual and theoretical underpinnings of the course, its methodology and presents selected student responses. The course tries to remedy in a small way malaises of the current classroom-based pedagogy through the concept of Appreciative Inquiry (AI). This approach is centered on offering students positive rather than negative feedback. While this course is a part of architecture syllabi, its application in a larger arena is deemed significant. Currently, the overall vision for urbanism in the Global South and India in particular is purely engineering and information technology oriented. The author asserts that this approach is myopic, leaving a deep need for a human-centric approach and contends that EBS will enable students to understand the complexities of inter-relationships of South Asian communities and their built environments. The chapter emphasizes the vital need for such an input on a wider spectrum.
