Media Lab tourIn the fall of 2009, CMW received funding from The Champlin Foundations and The Rhode Island Foundation to launch a new initiative called Media Lab. Born out of the organization's desire to document student work, support the creation of new work, and the recognition that a media environment could be a space for students to gain valuable professional technical skills, Media Lab classes began in February 2010. The first classes, in electronic music composition and video making, were taught by volunteers from Brown University (Betsey Biggs and Henry Kerins) and RISD (Anne Reinhardt) with support from Media Lab Director Jori Ketten. Last fall, Jori and former CMW Fellow Laura Cetilia co-taught a class that focused on Steve Reich's Different Trains. The PSQ performed Different Trains at the end of the semester at The RISD Museum, and Media Lab students' final projects were also shared at this event. This spring, Jori and Laura are co-teaching classes about Documentary Production and Audio/Visual Composition. Support from a team of very generous volunteers, including Micah Salkind, David Lee, Emma Cunningham, Justin Rosengarten, and Stephan Moore, has been crucial. The Media Lab website is a key part of the Media Lab program. The site is still new to CMW, and it has yet to be fully integrated into the lives of all of CMW's teachers and students. If you want to see a good example of the future potential of the website, check out how Sara has successfully incorporated Media Lab into her teaching toolbox, corresponding with students and posting information for them regularly. Built on a blogging and publishing platform called WordPress, the site is able to accomplish many things: 1. It is a storage facility for student work. 2. It is a way to log classroom activities. 3. It is a way for teachers and students to communicate. 4. Alumni can stay connected to CMW. 5. The site is expandable, meaning that classes, students, teachers, projects, and content can be added each year. Over time, the catalog will grow and students can see how their work has matured and changed over the years. Media Lab has the potential to play an important role in increasing students' agency and participation in the wider world, two areas that were addressed in CMW's 2009 program evaluation. As CMW continues to explore the vast potential of its Media Lab programming, I hope that you will enjoy visiting the Media Lab website and searching its contents. -Jori Ketten, Media Lab Director |
