Studying at the Academy of DIY
Over the last couple of years I’ve become increasingly interested in a few Masters programs that offer technology and interaction theory and design along with research and arts practice. I’ve also thought idly about studying sociology, sustainability and urban design too, you know, just because I’m interested in way too much different stuff.
Then lately, as you might have noticed, I’ve become rather interested in friendship and how society and community forms. There’s a little bit of sociology in there and some psychology too. Considering that friendships form in physical space and online, I can then tie in the urban design and digital / media interests too. Representation and recording of relationships? Well that connects the art and design threads too.
Learn by aaronschmidt
At this point, it seems like a big ask to find a graduate program that allows me to explore all the above (and more) without paying vast sums of money and moving location yet again. So, I’m going to try and create my own part-time, unofficial ‘Masters’ program right here in Berlin.
To start with, I know a rather handsome guy who can teach me electronics. This teacher also has an extensive library incorporating philosophy and reference materials such as my current textbook.
I’m starting on a intensive course in the German language come January, so I’ll actually get some formal learning too.
After those two immediately available topics, I’m in need of some direction, so if you have answers to any of the following questions, please comment away:
What else should I learn?
So I’ve got electronics and German organised, but what else should I specifically learn? I’d love to learn everything in the world including lo-fi stuff like permaculture, bookbinding, letterpress, pattern drafting, guitar playing, cheesemaking and welding. One of the major appeals a traditional Masters program has for me, is exactly that, it’s a program which focuses my attention in an orderly and logical manner.
How should I organise this study?
Once again, we come to focus: I don’t want to just read about ‘stuff’, I want some direction and some way to practically output what I learn. Ultimately, I’d like to have a portfolio of work and writing to use for applications and further academic involvement which would add more letters after my name.
- Should I try to write blog posts / essays about specific topics?
- After a while should I try to centre this research around a specific topic for a more targeted document a.k.a. a thesis?
- When learning about practical subjects such as electronics, should I work to make objects that solve particular problems?
- How do I order the sequence of what I learn so as to get the most out of the experience? That is, how do I prevent myself from running before I’ve learnt to walk?
Who and what do I learn from?
Once I’ve worked out what I want to learn, where do I learn this stuff from? There are some great resources out there for self directed learning: on the internet, in books and from informative radio programs. However, since I’m a person, not a machine, I want learning experiences, not just information, I want interaction, questions answered and hopefully some mentoring.
I already know that the School of Everything, Couch Surfing University, Travelling School of Life, and BarCamps are great ways to meet people interested in the same things. Sadly, not everyone who has something to teach is signed up for these resources yet. So, where do I find out about swell people who like to teach the stuff I want to learn? Do you know of any relevant workshops and conferences?*
How do I share my knowledge?
Besides a sense of direction and experienced teachers, the other core thing that institutional study has over just learning, is interaction and a shared experience with peers.
While I’m happy to hear about online environments to interact with people who are interested in learning the same thing, I’d really like to meet up with fellow ‘students’ in the real world. Once again the School of Everything and BarCamps are an ideal environment for making those connections, but I’d love to hear of those which are Berlin focused.
How do I afford this?
While I may not be paying for course fees, I’m still going to have some outgoings for books and equipment. Also, university attendance also makes it easier to get cheaper movie tickets, and funding for conferences etc. Besides the obvious action of getting some work here in Berlin, how do I make my DIYMasters financially viable, particularly in the longer term?
Which leads to my final question:
How do I make the effort worth it?
Apart from Self-Improvement, the reason that I want to study the topics I’m interested in is because I’d love to get paid to think, play and talk/write about those concepts all the time. At the moment I have two Bachelors degrees, experience working in video games, e-learning and bartending and a smattering of knowledge about the topics I’m actually interested in long-term involvement with.
How do I give myself a practical and theoretical grounding that will help me be recognised as someone who knows and creatively works around the issues of friendship and society in a technological, globablised urban environment?
In the long run, how do I make my DIYMasters a foundation for an interesting job or an actual funded Masters or PhD?
I guess a side effect of actively writing about intending to study a DIYMasters is that self directed learning with recognisable outcomes becomes part of the learning and research project itself. As such, I’ll be trying to tag relevant information online (initially within delicious) with DIYMasters. Feel free to join in the fun.
*In or near Berlin and for cheap or free.
Sounds like you might need a job at a university or a research centre. Somewhere that you can access lots of skills people and have flexibility in your professional development and work.
I’m currently researching the concept and practicality of on campus community vegetable gardens that can be used by students that live on campus, for teaching and learning purposes with the school of agriculture and wine sciences and for staff learning through organisational development….
Adult education would also be a good way to learn. You can perhaps try open university, where you can pick one subject at a time at a postgraduate level.
Wow! I have so many thoughts in response to this! My friend India sent me to this post; I’m not sure how you know each other, or whether she just ran across your blog.
I’ll be in Berlin next week, for a week, from the 25th to the 1st or 2nd, at the Chaos Communications Congress. I think you might really enjoy some of the talks there, and I’m sure you’d enjoy the atmosphere.
Right now one of my own research interests is taking the DIY/hacker ethic, comparing it to the autodidact/open education model, and bundling all that up and using it as a way to stir up revolution inside the academy (I’m a PhD student in sociology at the City University of New York, and also a member of the hacker space NYC Resistor, and I’ll be teaching intro to sociology to undergraduates next semester at Baruch College in Manhattan). I’m not alone in wanting to do this sort of thing — there’s a growing “edupunk” movement in the States that wants to loosen up the formal structures of higher education so that more *actual* learning can get done at college.
That’s not a direct response to your really well-formulated list of questions, though. I’ll give those some thought and come back to them. Off the top of my head I already know of one course you can take online next semester that I think you’ll find perfect — and it’s free!
So many questions, so little answers.
Learn what you know. I would also suggest having a bit more focus, but you sound like you are aiming to be a Polymath so perhaps that would be a bad idea.
Don’t be concerned about absolute efficiency. I find it better to make mistakes rather than worrying about making them. Plus i learn something from the experience.
As for how you can afford to do this – well, i would have thought that you would tie what you are learning or have learnt into some form of money-making model.
E.g. if you are learning German, why not translate? Permaculture? design them! Bookbinding? repair old worn out books! Pattern drafting? draft out patterns! Guitar playing? join a band! Cheese making? Sell your own cheese! Welding? well, you get the point.
The last resort of course would be to put a “Click here to donate to help support Pippa’s worthy cause” button on your site. Definitely not a serious long-term solution though.
In any case, i wish you the best of luck. Will be interested in seeing how studying at the academy of DIY all pans out.
Interesting stuff. Doesn’t your last point very much depend on what you want as a career? There are a lot of “creative generalist” jobs out there but not many people make a good living from it. It’s been a hell of a struggle at Rattle to gain a reputation for doing good work in the areas of ‘experience design’ for web based services. usually only big companies have the money and the internal staff that “get it”.
At the risk of sounding ever so traditional, I’d spend some time doing some hands-on work in some of the sectors you think would support your interests (and learn stuff) and then supplement this with courses that interest you.
Wittgenstein’s view on all this is worth a look. He was largely self-taught and dipped into lots of different careers eschewing ‘formal’ qualifications. But he had good feedback from some excellent mentors. If you go down this route how are you going to get consistent feedback? You probably need to pick a few people who could help feedback to you in your chosen field(s) of study.
I think this is a great idea. I have an interesting yet worthless BA in Film & Media and I think most of what I have learned *after* completing it has been more useful to me than anything in the programme.
I think that once you have the confidence in your German ability, you could set about working in a bar – but not for the bar skills, just for the German practice. Working in bars in Japan, I have found that it really helped my Japanese listening comprehension especially.
I have to say that I agree with James in that the other things you want to learn should be economically viable in and of themselves. That said, I don’t mean economically viable in the normal sense but only as in are they cheaper than other ways and means of doing things: e.g. cheesemaking should be cheaper than buying cheese, playing the guitar (and buying one) should be cheaper than the equivalent entertainment hours spent on video games, DVDs, going to bars, etc.
In addition to your “What should I learn next?” question, it may be of interest to you to study psychogeography, which would tie in with your social urbanism interests.
if you got a job at a university you would be able to study for free (well most universities offer that kind of arrangement)..you could also look at different education funding bodies in germany. in scotland you can apply for all your tuition fees to be paid..and not have to repay the money (they’re trying to encourage graduates to stay in scotland)..
on the other hand – i do know stuff about book binding! and i only learnt about it by doing my apprenticeship in a printers…and these days most book binding (all types) are done by huge expensive machines – but, i do know a good way to bind note pads.
so, to get any kind of practical experience you’ll need to volunteer – i’m looking forward to become a member of the zoo so I can volunteer and get some zoo skills.
Perhaps you should formulate your study around a central question. What is it that all of these interests are pointing to? Finding the center of it may help you to formulate your studies and bring your web of ideas together.
Each action you take is part of your education and should be documented as related to your question. This could lead to the over-examination to which you refer in your sub-title, but I think the DIY aspect makes that unavoidable.
Since you seem to have an affinity for the formality of education, your studies could culminate in something concrete, say a book or a film, which could serve as a thesis, the answer to your question.
Later, if you’re feeling particularly ambitious, you could approach a university to see if they would give you a degree for the work you have done.
[...] still thinking a lot about how to approach the studying and academic side of my DIYMasters, but on the creative side I’ve become a bit more [...]
[...] of the course. One of the questions I had when I first thought about a DIY Masters program was “How do I share my knowledge?” and I was interested to see if an online course would provide [...]
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