MFA DT THESIS
Parsons The New School for DesignThesis Summer Assignment and Workshops
Hello Class–
I sent this earlier today but I don’t think the mail servers are working.
Hello Class of 2010–
I hope that you are having a productive and creative summer. The Thesis Workshops are scheduled for August 17th and 19th from 6 to 9PM. You don’t need to come to both but many people did last year and found it helpful to bounce their ideas off the group. We will be meeting in Room 1013. The CDT office will be managing the sign-up via email. I will let you know how we are doing that soon.
I know that many of you are not yet addressing your thesis research or you may be overwhelmed by the thought of a year-long thesis project. Here are a few pointers that may get you going:
1. If you read the summer assignment and take the steps one by one, you will find that many of your questions of overwhelm will go away.
2. Please put up a website (blog optional)for your work. There are specific guidelines for this and you should follow them.
3. Remember that the Summer Assignment is a graded assignment.
4. Get in touch with your Thesis Studio and Writing faculty if you are running into problems.
5. The best cure for ANY thesis ailment is to get in touch with a community, organization, foundation, or company that needs your thesis. We require you to do user testing of your projects fairly soon into the thesis process. Being in touch with a group of people who can be your user group or target audience is a great way to get some prototyping done can advance through some iterations. If you are doing an art oriented thesis, make sure that you are working with a gallery or group where you can show your works in progress. Thesis does not happen in a vacuum. You can opt to collaborate on a thesis with a classmate–this has been very successful in the past.
6. Plan on getting your thesis implemented before you graduate. Present your work to peers outside of The New School (conferences, festivals). This is the best way to get noticed by future employers and possible funders for your work. Intern with an organization or company that may need your thesis.
7. Use the skills you have already. Use your background, your contacts, your inspirations. Add new skills that will stretch your current repertoire.
8. Get inspired. See a lot of work that you like and dislike–keep a journal and distinguish why you like or dislike something.
9. Manage your time well. Don’t procrastinate. Do something every day toward thesis. Look at the year, not the semester. Remember that the second semester is really only half a semester long. The thesis show and symposium has a way of taking over the second half of your last semester.
10. If you are staring at a blank screen/sheet of paper/canvas/space every day, get into action and put something down. Once you have manifested one thing, you can build on it or know that you’ve tried it and set it aside. PLAY.
Let me know if you want me to look at anything you’re making. Remember that you should be making a minimum of three prototypes over the summer as well as writing a paper.
I am working on next year’s thesis syllabus and will be putting it up by the end of this week.
http://thesis.cdt.parsons.edu user: dtthesis password:aeiou
Best,
Anezka Sebek
Associate Professor of Media Design
Director, MFA in Design and Technology
The School for Art, Media, and Technolgy
Parsons The New School for Design
2 West 13th Street, 10th floor
New York, NY 10011
212-229-8908 xtn 4343
http://cdt.parsons.edu/?q=programs/mfadt
