Mars College

= 'A seasonal solarpunk off-grid pop-up in the desert". [1]

URL = https://www.mars.college/

Description

Amy Brown Carver and Nico Shi:

"Mars College started with a creative AI focus which stemmed from Gene Kogan's Machine Learning for Artists (ml4a) program. For the first couple of years, Gene put out the call for applications via Twitter. The first Martians were people he knew from online. "

"In 2025, Mars switched to a “multi-camp” model which gave these different majors more autonomy and responsibility. They could now recruit and admit Martians themselves. The camps included Mars Research (creative AI), Tool Camp (a workshop space dedicated to off-grid-living projects), Bodywork (an intensive Thai bodyworks residency), and Freeside (focused on communal living).

The number of Martians each year varies, but in 2024 and 2025, we’ve been in the 60-70 people range."

(https://supernuclear.substack.com/p/case-study-mars-college)

Governance

'Throughout the 2025 season, we had multiple cross-camp meetings. These were sessions open to everyone in which we discussed how Mars was going and what we’d like to change, either immediately or in the future. A common refrain was a call for a more established form of governance. By the end of the 2025 season, we settled on an elected five-person council (plus the founders, Gene and Freeman) given large leeway and trust to organize next year’s Mars with the mandate to also move towards a sociocracy-based system.

As with everything else about Mars, the Council will be something of an experiment. We start from blank desert every year and build something new. Every year is strikingly different. And I expect Mars 2026 will be no exception.'

(https://supernuclear.substack.com/p/case-study-mars-college)