Words matter, and how we communicate internally and externally affect these interpersonal interactions and our mental health.

Students in this studio will look at ways in which neuroplasticity can be harnessed to affect behavior, thus enabling us to create positive change within ourselves. How can our understanding of the inner workings of the brain change the way in which we view the world? Through studying human behavior through the lens of brain science we will deconstruct the structure of the self-help book, as well as the psychological way in which we as readers respond to self-help. The self-help book teaches us to recognize behavioral patterns we possess as a way of guiding change and direction in our lives. By working with the rules of the brain, the self-help author offers a means of programming the subconscious. Throughout the semester, students will record their thoughts and ideas through creative forms of documentation. They will then use these collected works as a springboard for both personal growth and public communication.

Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D., is one of the world’s leading researchers in the field of motivation and is the Lewis and Virginia Eaton Professor of Psychology at Stanford University. Her research has focused on why people succeed and how to foster success.

Her scholarly book Self-Theories: Their Role in Motivation, Personality, and Development was named Book of the Year by the World Education Federation. 

 tessellating gardens are designed to reduce toxic algae in the Charles River, and to filter the water enough that it can be used to irrigate the garden's edible crops. Constructed out of widely available materials including dimensional lumber, each hexagon floats on recycled bottles and 50-gallon drums. To reduce the influx of sediment from the water, the top of each garden is covered with fine gravel and a protective fiber mesh. On one side is a solar-powered rotor that lifts toxic algae onto the garden surface, where it can be eaten by aquatic snails. A metal mesh protects the snails from birds. 

 The garden is designed to address the consequences of high runoff of phosphates into urban waterways; in warm weather, this runoff feeds toxic algae blooms that make the Charles unfit for recreation, especially swimming and fishing. tessellating gardens aims to help all people who take pleasure in a healthy urban river, especially those who would like to use the Charles for active recreation. Although water-gardening has long existed in Asia and Central America, its potential has been neglected in the U.S. tessellating gardens is an innovative step forward in the treatment of urban waterways, using plants and shelled creatures to filter water in a deliberate way, while adding a decorative element to the riverscape that also produces edible food. It is the first time that a floating urban garden has been presented as a practical tool for improving water quality.

With the spread of the phenomenon of fake news, and with undemocratic leaders taking advantage of the phenomenon to label true news as fake, everyone is forced to think about whether what they read is from a reliable source and is accurate. Because it can be hard to determine the reliability of an article, many people believe and spread false information, and in the process bring great economic benefits to the those responsible for the fake articles. Also, individuals who have believed and spread "fake news" have created tremendous political and social tension, tearing those with opposite political views further away. With the recently made False Media Exposer product "The Media Lightbox," viewers will come to understand who is benefiting from the spread of fake news and will be more cautious before reading and passing along an article from an unknown source.

This product will highlight some of the many false news headlines along with statistics about the income they bring to the media companies that perpetuate them. At the front of the artifact, the viewer will see a false media headline in which a great number of people believed and spread throughout social media platforms. Then, the user will look into the lightbox through a slit and will see the true headline at the back of the box, resulting in the viewer realizing the likeliness of believing false media. When the user looks below the box, they will see a statistic created by a light fixture that is supported at the top of the box, influencing the user to come to the realization that false media is prospering internationally due to many people believing its information. The hope is that the artifact will reach enough individuals who read and believe false media to the point where they will become more cautious in their approach to reading these articles. And without people contributing to the economic success of false media, the news will become more reliable again because it will no longer be profitable to alter information.

Lockers is an interactive art installation that targets the problem of gun violence in schools in the 21st century. It is composed of 226 small wooden lockers. Each is dedicated to a person and has a LED backlit black and white abstract picture and stenciled information (name, age at death, school of death, and personal information like some of their interests). Lockers is honoring the memories of the lives that were unjustly taken, sending the message that gun violence in schools occurs too often and takes too many innocent lives.The goal is to reach gun rights supporters in the hope that when they see these victims as actual people who had incredible potential, and not just as another statistic, they will be inspired to push for stricter gun control laws. As viewers you can go up and open each locker and discover the story of a life that is no longer with us and have time to reflect on the effects of gun violence.

  A safe space where LGBTQ youth can come and try on different clothes to try on different identities and feel pride and comfort through self-expression. One unique clothing item is a unisex dress using cyanotype as a pattern.

LGBTQ youth are more prone to feeling isolated and alone in non-accepting communities where they are not free to explore their identities. This leads to higher suicide rates and drug abuse. My project will solve this problem by providing a space for LGBTQ youth to come and explore their identity with other members, so that they don't feel alone. People often dress in the way that they want to be perceived (i.e sporty, comfy, sharp, preppy). LGBTQ youth will be able to express their identity through clothes.

The safe space will be warm and inviting and posted on the walls, headshots of famous members of the LGBTQ community and an inclusive mission statement. It will have Christmas lights which will represent Gay Pride colors and my mission statement on the wall. Part of the wardrobe will be a unisex dress which is sewn and imprinted with patterns using cyanotype. Part of the reason I’m using cyanotype is that it is imprinted using sun exposure. This is metaphoric in a way that when the cyanotype comes out to the sun, something beautiful is created in the same way that LGBTQ members should come out to the world. 

Lilian Jochmann:

A video documentary that educates the general public, especially teens who will soon be voting, in simple terms about the concept of false news, its role in the 2016 election, and what steps can be taken to avoid falling into its trap.

Weapons of Mass Deception is a video documentary that educates the general public, especially teens who will soon be voting, in simple terms about the concept of false news, its role in the 2016 election, and what steps can be taken to avoid falling into its trap. It gives viewers an inside look at the extremely controversial and timely, yet often misunderstood world of false media. The project combines interviews with expert researchers from Ohio State University and MIT with interviews with American teens and includes voiceovers, visual animations, images, and footage from around Boston to create a video that educates viewers about this complex issue. 

The video begins with a narration introducing the audience to the concept of false media, transitioning into interviews with four American teens addressing their perspectives on the issue. Teen viewers can relate or disagree with the views of the kids in the video and think about why. The film then highlights two researchers: Richard Gunther from Ohio State University and Soroush Vosoughi from MIT. Gunther conducted a study on how false media influenced the 2016 presidential election, while Vosoughi showed that false media on Twitter travels six times faster than real news. The interviews are supported by narrations, graphics, and animations. Getting the perspectives of three diverse groups: the average American teen, a professor at Ohio State University, and a Postdoctoral Associate at the MIT Media Lab gives viewers a look into the different aspects of false media.

Robert Paglione:

Weapons of Mass Deception project is a video evaluating the impacts of false media reporting and its effects on the American political system. Presenting research and expert interviewees, the project has compiled its collected information into an incredibly accessible medium that targets the average news-consuming American. The video includes a compilation of interviews as well as narrative commentary offering additional information and context. The softwares used to create this digital video are iMovie and Photoshop. The project exists in order to bring awareness and understanding to the issue of false media, for it is largely talked about, but often not well-understood. The project focuses on the epidemic of falsehoods in U.S. media and the American tendency to discredit real news by labeling it fake news. Weapons of Mass Deception helps the average news-consuming American as well as anyone who has unknowingly made a decision based on a fallacy they absorbed from the media.

This project has the potential to raise awareness about fallacies in the media and afford people the ability to observe and consume the news they are presented within a more skeptical and scrutinizing manner. The ability to propagate a digital product online raises questions as this topic deserves a large viewer assemblage. This project's audience is anyone with internet access and the motivation to learn more about the origins of their news as well as professional opinions concerning the topic. The political motivations of our audience are irrelevant, for anyone on the political spectrum has been the victim of false media, and therefore will most likely take interest in our product. The technology that we are going to implement in order to complete our video is iMovie and photoshop and we will film using cameras supplied by the school and myself. Our video is the first of its kind because an interview-based documentary film concerning false media has never been done with experts from the Boston area. Our decision to use an audio-visual medium was based on a conscious choice to include two senses. By stimulating more than one sense, our product will become more accessible and entertaining translating to greater outreach. 

Kenzie: Eat Ugly Cambridge is a campaign modeled on the body positivity. This campaign aims to reduce food waste by raising awareness that food thrown away for aesthetic reasons is still tasty and nutritious. In fact, 50% off produce is thrown away before it reaches stores as a result of aesthetic reasons. The Eat Ugly campaign challenges the idea of normative standards of beauty for food and humans. This campaign challenges societal norms in the hope of changing the societal pattern of picking fruits based on aesthetics. Eat Uglys main goal is to encourage people to recognize that "ugly" produce still tastes good. The Eat Ugly Campaign targets consumers with stickers and posters because once companies know that people will buy "ugly" produce, companies will buy it from farmers and stop wasting this fruit. Eat Ugly hopes to strive to inspire self-reflection in the food industry and in consumers, in the hope of changing people's habits and ideas, so that they learn to value taste and nutrition above appearance in food. With success, this campaign will hopefully change societal norms in the effort to reduce waste. 

Dina: The Eat Ugly Cambridge campaign tackles the egregious amount of food waste produced by the American food industry and its consumers. Almost fifty percent of U.S. produce, including what is discarded at various stages of production as well as by sellers and buyers, bypasses stomachs for the landfill. Eat Ugly's promotional materials, parodying the "body positivity” movement that promotes acceptance of humans of all shapes and sizes, will help consumers assess their wasteful habits by questioning societal standards of the appearance of fruits and vegetables. Placing the stickers emblazoned with our slogan, “Eat Ugly,” on the fruit itself is a creative method of reaching consumers. These stickers will direct people to the stylistically similar posters, which display important information about food waste alongside cartoon fruit models. By causing small changes in the behaviors of local shoppers, the Eat Ugly movement rescues produce that would otherwise have been destined for landfills. With enough momentum, the Eat Ugly movement will lessen the pollution generated by excess food production, keep uneaten produce out of landfills, and conserve American land, water, and labor.