In the fall semester of 2009-2010, Johan Hoorn (Managing Director of the Center for Advanced Media Research at VU University Amsterdam) launched a THNK undergraduate pilot course at the Amsterdam University College (a joint initiative by the VU University Amsterdam and the University of Amsterdam), titled "Multimedia and Design Thinking". The course provided a platform to test THNK methodological prototypes that are to be applied in its post-graduate education in the near future.
One of our student participants, Dora Tamari Tutnjevic, describes her participation in the course below:
“Whenever people ask what the 'Multimedia and Design Thinking' course was all about, I am never sure of what to say exactly because the format consisted of very diverse elements. In a nutshell, there were lots of heated discussions that challenged our common beliefs and assumptions, brainstorming sessions that confronted our mental blocks, field trips to either get inspired or present our inspired ideas, individual projects fit to one’s personal interest, as well as a big group project that joined all of the smaller projects together—and much more.
Hence, my experience of participating in the course is best described in terms of a personal journey. The freedom to explore our own interests and ideas within the framework of the course meant progressing as much or as little as one allowed oneself to. I finished the course with so much more baggage than mere multimedia knowledge.
