Final Reflection

Throughout this semester, we’ve explored ways of thinking and ways of making. You’ve likely tried tools and methods that you found frustrating or limiting, and hopefully you also found a few that were compatible with your imagination and sparked new ideas for the future. This final reflection is an opportunity to think about that future work: in a short (2-3 pages, if textual) essay, contextualize the lessons of the semester. Your reflection should be guided by the following questions, which ask you to connect your past, present, and future work in critical making:

What past perceptions did this course challenge - or confirm? Was this journey in critical making what you expected? Have your definitions of the field (or of how you see yourself) changed from where you started?
What present work are you most excited about? Did you start anything you want to continue? Which exercises have moved your research forward, or captured elements of what you want to accomplish with making?
What will you take with you to your future work? Are their tools, theories, or ideas that particularly resonate for you? Do you have a manifesto or vision for your future making, whether in your dissertation or beyond?

These questions are deliberately broad, and not all of them will apply to you. Feel free to select and adapt, and of course, your response can be as multimodal as your own energy and schedule at the end of the semester permits. Text alone is fine, but experimentation with form (from embedded gifs to hypertextual structure and beyond) is welcome. Depending on your approach, you can either upload a traditional document or file, or link to a web version of your reflection. Reflections should cite at least five creative or critical works from the course, using an appropriate citation style for the format.