Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Constructionism in science and learning
The NI group was steeped in the culture of Piagetian constructionism, mostly
through the influence of Seymour Papert. Our ideas about narrative were all
implicitly of a constructionist bent. Since we were already familiar with this
viewpoint in the areas of education and cognition, we decided to broaden our
horizon by looking at the constructionist theories of science, which were not
so readily accepted at MIT.
Haraway, Donna J. (1991). A cyborg manifesto: Science, technology, and socialist-feminism
in the late twentieth century. In
Simians, cyborgs, and women: The reinvention of nature
(pp. 149-181). London: Free Association Books.
Keller, Evelyn Fox (1992). Secrets of God, nature, and life. In
Secrets of life, secrets of death:
Essays on language, gender and science
(pp. 56-72). New York: Routledge.
Keller, Evelyn Fox (1990). Physics and the emergence of molecular biology: A history of
cognitive and political synergy.
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(3), 389-409.
Papert, Seymour (1980).
Mindstorms: Children, computers, and powerful ideas
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Basic Books.
Lessons learned and impact
For the members of the Narrative Intelligence Reading Group a new type of
intellectual activity became possible: a mutually reinforcing theory and prac-
tice of analyzing, designing, and building computational media consciously
informed by the humanistic disciplines of literary theory, media studies, psy-
chology, sociology, and philosophy. We also learned that true interdisciplinary
work takes perseverance and patience. After 4 years of running a weekly unoffi-
cial seminar in the basement of the Media Lab, we found we had begun to have
an impact on the institution's curriculum. In 1994, about a third of the doctoral
proseminar syllabus for incoming Ph.D. students included “NI” materials. This
was largely due to recent MS graduates who were members of NI entering the
Ph.D. program. We also found that a number of courses being offered at the
Media Lab and around MIT started to reflect the interdisciplinary approach of
NI. Over the years of the seminar we had two faculty members who were very
active participants (Henry Jenkins and Edith Ackermann) and who advocated
NI approaches at MIT. As we became established and well known, we had fre-
quent visits from other faculty. The most telling sign that we had blazed an im-
portant intellectual and curricular trail was the appearance in our later years of
