DML Commons - Upcoming Opportunities!

DML Commons provides an online scholarly community for makers and crafters. Two distinct course options - Design Research and other Professional Pathways - offer creative opportunities in both professional and academic domains. Through DML Commons, individuals are able to be virtually present in dynamic conversations of various elements of design research and design activities.

The Design Research course is focused on elements of design-based research. Four categories have been created to communicate key components of this research method. In this course, senior scholars share details of experience, while junior scholars are encouraged to pose questions and discuss interests.

The Professional Pathways course option is comprised of 4 units. Each unit is made up of two rich and informative 60-minute online conversations about a particular topic, such as academic writing and publishing, which are lead by junior and senior scholars. The conversations are recorded and can be revisited later on.

It is a great time to get involved in the design conversation - courses are happening now!

Reflections on Sewing Machines

Every time before March 26 when I used a sewing machine, I was always surrounded by others who knew how to use them. They had helped me to set up the machine and troubleshoot problems, so with their support, I managed to sew a few small projects successfully (for my Sailor Moon outfit, I only sewed the collar on a machine. A friend from Discardia sewed the skirt. The rest was either hand-sewn or purchased). This was the first time I had ever tried to use one on my own. And… it was one of the most frustrating experiences of my life! But even though I was “alone,” I ended up using many community resources after all, because successful sewing is impossible without them. More info after the break!

Knitting Escher Patterns

Check out The Aperiodical - a virtual meeting-place for people who already know they like maths and would like to know more - for tips on how to recreate M. C. Escher patterns in knitted textiles. I think this caliber of project may be a bit beyond my skill level, but perhaps one day I will give this a try!  

Written by Katie Steckles

Originally posted September 4, 2012 in Arty Maths

"Following on from our maths/knitting post earlier this month, we’ve found a knitting blog full of knitted MC Escher designs. The famously mathematical graphic artist MC Escher was king of tessellating designs with repeated fish, birds and other animals.

Jana, who writes the blog in question, has taken on the formidable challenge of creating knitting patterns for a variety of different Escher designs and not without a deal of success. The designs are all hand-knitted and are ridiculously intricate: while some are made from separate shapes stitched together, there are some which are knit in rows with two colours, using a pattern of her own design. Much maths and knitting respect is due.

All posts on her site tagged with ‘Escher’ can be found here;  particularly noteworthy are a blanket with a fish design, and some beautiful cushions.

(via Rudy Rucker and Edmund Harris on Twitter)"

A Magical Transformation: My Sailor Moon Cosplay Story

When I was a kid, Sailor Moon was my favorite TV show. It tells the story of an ordinary teenage girl who can transform into a sailor-suited superheroine called Sailor Moon. Later she’s joined by a team of her friends, and together, these superheroines use magic to fight evil. This series holds a lot of nostalgia for me because it was my first foray into Japanese anime (now one of my favorite forms of media), my first motivation for developing internet literacy as I surfed around for Sailor Moon-related fan sites online, my first experience with reading and writing fan fiction, not to mention the first story I’d ever heard of that featured a whole group of female, rather than male, superheroes! Last year the series also got a reboot in the form of a whole new anime, so it remains current and popular. It thus seemed only appropriate that I chose Sailor Moon as my first cosplay.

When I first found out I was going to the Wizard World Indianapolis Comic Con (my first fan convention ever!), I had less than a week to finish my Sailor Moon cosplay. Not to worry; last-minute costume creation is a time-honored cosplay tradition!

In the process of completing and wearing my first cosplay costume, I learned a great deal about the math involved in sewing, the identity play involved in taking on a character’s appearance, and the resources distributed throughout both digital and in-person communities that make success in cosplay and sewing possible.

More on my first cosplay experience after the break!

Announcing the DML Commons Connected Courses! Get involved!

We here at the Creativity Labs have been collaborating with folks from the DML Hub to design the DML Commons (http://dmlcommons.net/) – see info below. We are excited to announce that the DML Commons are officially kicking off this week! Now is a great time to get caught up before the first units start!

DML Commons is an new open online course that is designed for graduate students, postdocs, junior scholars, and early career professors figuring out a professional pathway and/or delving into design-based research. We are hoping to unearth the kinds of stuff that graduate school does not commonly explicitly teach!

There are many ways to get involved, e.g., by joining all units, joining one unit, blogging, tweeting etc. The best way to get started would be to set up a blog and to connect it to the DML Commons >> http://dmlcommons.net/connect/

We are looking forward to an exciting few months ahead. We would love to have people from all across the world join the fun! Come join and invite your friends to participate too!

This coming week, the Design-Based Research strand will kick off with "Purposes/Argumentative Grammar of DBR", and the Professional Pathways will get started with live events on "How to Fund, Launch, and Collaborate on a Research Project"!

Looking forward to seeing you online! More info can be found in the press release after the break below.