Jordan and Stefan's blog

The second session of our seminar “Walking Paths to Discovery” started with the group meeting with our Professor, Dr. Sharpe, in the Deans Conference Room. Once we had all arrived and settled down, we went around the table and everyone made comments about university life, the course, and whatever really came to mind. We also talked about our walking experiences, and what walking means to us.

After that we had a brief discussion about our biweekly reflections. Dr. Sharpe then introduced us to our research paper assignment the objective of which is to consider walking as a methodological or an epistemological approach to understanding or representing our world. We discussed what we would have to do for this paper, what ideas we had, and the steps to writing a successful paper.

We then went for a walk to the Wilfrid Laurier Library, where we met Peter Genzinger, who is a coordinator at the library. He explained to us how to use the library effectively, and then took us to a computer lab to show us how to access Laurier’s Library website and to use Refworks, for citing references and creating bibliographies.

He then took us down to the Library’s archives, where we were shown texts from various times throughout history. This is a privilege very few get. We inspected a manuscript from the medieval period and examined old photos of the University. We also went into the actual archival room, where a variety of old documents are stored. This was a intriguing room with humidity and temperature controls as well as specially made cases that will help increase the life span of the books. Lastly, Mr. Genzinger took the group on a short tour of the library showing us where we would find Environmental Studies and Geography books. Overall, he showed us some very interesting places in the library and was able to teach us things we never would have learned elsewhere. In addition to finding books and articles, he emphasized that the library is a good place for a walk and for browsing. Discoveries can be made in the library without the aid of computers simply by walking among the shelves.

By: Stefan Gorgolewski and Jordan Resmer

September 15 - Laurier Ramble

Our first session of the walking seminar began in the residential learning community where I met Ian Spence, the residence don, who gave me a tour of the building. I had the opportunity to see how the students live. This provided a huge contrast to the way classes normally begin with students trying to find the professor. The first learning challenge given to the students was to take us to our classroom. It was great to see how the students took various roles as leaders and information seekers while they found their way to the Dean Of Arts Boardroom.

We then spent some time getting to know each other and the expectations of the course. I reviewed the syllabus and emphasized that the main objective of this seminar is to learn the research and writing process through the experience and study of walking.


We then went on a short campus walk. First we went to the Arts building, the home of Geography and Environmental Studies, to look at the beautiful compass rose inlaid in the terrazzo floor. Next we followed the heritage walkway over to the seminary, a place most first-year students don’t get a chance to explore. There we met Dean David Pfrimmer who invited us into his office. Here we had a moment of walking serendipity, as David explained to us the story of the statue of Adam Keffer, the founder of the seminary, who walked the 2,000 km from Waterloo to Pennsylvania and back. We ended this session with a walk to the Alumni field where we experimented with walking in blindfolds. It turns out that walking exactly 15 metres in a straight line isn’t too difficult, but even a slightly more complicated route becomes an interesting wayfinding challenge.