Perpetual Learner- The adventure of going back to school

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

What is a study plan?

When arriving at Goddard College you will be asked to create two study plans one that is for the Fall semester and then one that is over the entire time you are at school. There are specific questions that you must answer for this study plan and it is submitted before the end of your residency. For those of you who are going to Goddard and interested, I'm posting mine here. Oh, I feel so naked.

This study plan has been approved by your adviser
Study Plan for the Fall of 2009

Guidelines: The study plan for one semester describes, specifically and in detail, what you will accomplish this semester. Refer to your STUDY PLAN AS A WHOLE as well as the MFAIA Degree Criteria, and as thoroughly and concretely as possible elaborate on this semester's plan of study activity.

Areas of Inquiry that provide the academic and artistic context of your studies.
Sculpture
Digital media
Writing
Exploration of creativity, expression, faith, emotion and process

1. What are your overall learning goals for the semester? Describe the areas of inquiry, central themes, concerns and/or questions that your learning activities will address. How do you envision your creative and intellectual work evolving? How do you anticipate this work will move your practice forward?
Part 1. Digital/Traditional Sculpting
There are two areas of focus in this study plan. The first is bridging the gap between digital and traditional sculpture. Through the semester I will explore working with Mudbox as a sculpting tool as well as using other digital technologies to aid in my creations. How is Mudbox used, what are the difficulties that a traditional sculptor will have entering the digital world? Are there alternative methods of workflow that might make that transition easier? It will be important to document my own frustration with the process from a traditional sculptors point of view.

The use of digital technology in my studio is very recent. Embracing the technology increases my productivity, saves times and offers me more time for creativity. It also gives me tools to expand upon. Along with the creative process I’m also interested in exploring the ramification this new technology will have concerning copyright as it pertains to 3D scanning and creating.

Part 2. Creative Christian
In addition I have a strong desire to research my own creative process as it pertains to my faith, business and person. And would like to journal these thoughts.

2. What creative projects will you undertake and what products do you envision emerging from your creative work this semester? Describe how this work will be documented and how it may contribute to the development and rigorous exploration of your interdisciplinary practice.
Part 1. Digital/Traditional Sculpting
With the digital art, as it pertains to the traditional studio, I am in the process of collaborating on a book with artist Mike de la Flor. My collaboration on the book is to translate the traditional process of sculpting to digital. The exploration brings frustrations, concerns and more questions that I need to resolve. Once resolved, those discoveries need to be formatted to educate others. My packets will consist of my own writing and research for the book as well as notes/journal about my personal experiences and frustrations.

Part 2. Creative Christian
Within our inspirations podcast we have decided to interview one creative Christian a month. The interview questions that are asked are burning questions of my own. I’m interested to hear how others are interacting with their creativity when it is melded with their faith and often with their livelihood. I know the interview will also bring up further questions and emotional responses, which I would like to journal about.


3. What critical discourses and theoretical concepts will you engage with this semester? Identify the artists; theorists; movements; fields of study; cultural, social and political frameworks; or other areas of knowledge that you plan to explore and describe how you see this work in conversation with your creative projects and/or contributing to your overall creative development. How will you document this activity; what written or other products-such as critical writing, essays, annotations, etc.-will emerge?
Part 1. Digital/Traditional Sculpting
Working through the process of using digital technology helps me to bridge that gap between traditional studio and the digital tools. Because of my own exploration and incorporation of these tools, I feel that I can better educate others. I can identify with the affects of using them in the creative process. It will however be interesting to see how other traditional artists come to terms with technology and if they will embrace it or shun it.

Because technology is changing and growing it will be necessary to keep engaged with the advances. Just as digital photography and printing has changed the photography, new advancements in digital technology will be changing the field of sculpting. It will even change the way that bronze casting has been done for centuries. With such changes come a great deal of uncertainty and psychological barriers between the creator and the tools. It will be interesting to explore these barriers.

Part 2. Creative Christian
Through the writing and exploration of creativity it is important to allow myself to become vulnerable to others in order to assist them with their process of growth and healing. In turn, the sharing affects my own growth as well.


4. What specific resources do you plan to use? Include a Bibliography, as well as other resources you plan to use. In addition, please describe how you envision co-learning with peers this semester.
Part 1. Digital/Traditional Sculpting
I will rely heavily on the information that comes from the computer graphics convention SIGGRAPH, which I am attending in August. I will also draw from the research gathered from those I have already been in contact with. Because this study and the new technology is really groundbreaking work there is very little written about it. I will however, be reading books that I can find that are on similar topics such as the competing software—Zbrush. Online discourse with modelers and Mudbox users will be of great assistance combined with the tech department of the software company. Books on polygonal modeling are available and may or may not apply.

Part 2. Creative Christian
The interviews of the individuals that I feel inspired by, whose work I will have to research prior to interviewing will be my resources for this portion of my study. I look forward to talking about


5. If you are planning a practicum for this semester, include the complete Practicum Proposal (as outlined in the MFAIA Handbook Addendum) here, describing the project's aim in relationship to your learning goals and how you plan to document it.
This does not apply at this time.

6. How will the work you are planning for this semester advance you toward fulfillment of the MFAIA degree criteria?
I believe this study plan for this semester expands on six of the seven Degree criteria, the only one it does cover is of course the practicum. It is transforming both personally and creatively and it will take vigorous research to achieve this goal. Part 1 – traditional to digital sculpting is all about contextualizing my research and comparing it to what has been done in history as well as contemporary. Because of the somewhat controversial, old way verses new technology, and my documentation of not only what is available but the affects and relation that others have to it, I believe that the criteria of “ability to develop critical discourse on one’s own practice” and “understand of cultural social and political context of ones practice” is also met.

Keep in mind, as you plan your study, the ways in which you will move towards meeting the MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts Program's Degree Criteria. Please refer to these criteria.

At the end of the semester you will write an evaluation report. Then you will need to look at this plan and ask yourself how well you followed it. The more specific it is now, the easier to compare it with what you actually do during the semester. The clearer your goals, your plans for learning activities and resources, the schedule you laid out for yourself, and your description of the products you hoped to make, the easier it should be for you to assign values to or find value in ('evaluation') these aspects of your ongoing study.


If you and your adviser agree that your study plan should be changed during the semester, make sure the changes are recorded in an Amended Study Plan. If this change indicates a change in your STUDY PLAN AS A WHOLE, amend that plan as well. To formal changes to either study plan, your adviser must approve the changes in the Student Information System.

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