Praxis 3 was my favorite activity during this course. For all three projects, the reading material and discussions were great. I loved that each project was short with a quick turn around time because there was no room to overthink the concept or get into nitty-gritty detail. Instead, we were given the opportunity to simply imagine different worlds. I think this is my main takeaway from praxis 3: even if the process seems daunting and the execution seems undoable, it is important to imagine and think about a place where change has occurred, whether that change be good or bad. 

For each project, my group and I began with long discussions. Usually, we started by dissecting the assigned readings/viewings and from there, an idea arose. The readings and films assigned usually centered around inequalities in today’s society, from our discussion of these topics we were able to conceive a society where either these problems are exacerbated or fixed. During the first week, I was eager to plan out how the world got to the state we were imagining, what exactly had happened, and what had changed. But as I continued working on these projects I realized that it was important to just imagine the change. Today, issues like racism, sexism, and homophobia can seem so daunting that they can often be ignored. Even if the perfect action plan has not yet been found, imagining a world where things are different and better is an important task that needs to be done more. 

The way it worked out with my groups, I was able to work on three very different projects throughout praxis 3. The first project I worked on was a dystopic world where social class is equated to access to technology, and social mobility becomes very hard. The second project I worked on was less of world-building and more so a manifesto on how to better society. My group and I created fourteen points on how to reform social media with the user’s best interest in mind. And my third project was an adaptation of my first project. My group and I focused on building a utopic world where everyone had equal access to technology and the internet and people were able to better themselves on an equal playing field. I found that imagining both dystopias and utopias is beneficial. They bring to light issues in today’s society that need to be redirected so we do not head down a disturbing path and things that could be changed altogether to better the world. A topic I focused on heavily in all three projects was technology. I found it interesting how interconnected technology is with issues of race and class. Works like The Feminist Manifesto 2.0 and Black Panther are good examples of this intersectionality. Today access to technology means access to knowledge and power. Poorer people, often minorities, have less access to high functioning tech and are thus left with less power. 

I found the multi-media aspect of the project really rewarding as well. It allowed us to create something tangible for these imagined worlds and bring aspects of them to life. It allowed both us as creators and users to imagines futures where either change has not occurred or positive change has. Even if steps to obtain these futures are not clearly set out, these projects really get people thinking about the issues discussed. My main takeaway is that thinking about and imagining a future that involves change is an extremely beneficial process as a creator and can also raise awareness for viewers.