Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)’s Open Documentary Lab and Co-Creation Studio

At MIT, pushing the boundaries of knowledge and possibility is our joyful obsession, and we celebrate fundamental discoveries and practical applications alike. As educators, we also value research as a potent form of learning by doing.

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About MIT’s OpenDoc Lab and Co-Creation Studio

Drawing on MIT’s legacy of media innovation and its deep commitment to open and accessible information, the MIT Open Documentary Lab brings storytellers, technologists, and scholars together to explore new documentary forms with a particular focus on collaborative, interactive, and immersive storytelling. In the spirit of MIT’s open courseware and open source software movements, the Open Documentary Lab is inclusive, collaborative and committed to sharing knowledge, networks, and tools. Open in its understanding of documentary’s forms and potentials, the Lab is catalyst, partner and guide to the future of reality-based storytelling. 

The Co-Creation Studio (MIT ODL) researches and incubates collective creation as alternatives to singular authorship. For our studio, co-creation can happen within communities, across disciplines and with non-human systems such as Artificial Intelligence. Our foundational book on the subject is called Collective Wisdom: Co-Creating Media for Equity and Justice (MIT Press 2022). At the studio, we design and facilitate innovative incubators, workshops, research projects, delegations, and fellowships fusing art, documentary, and journalism with emergent tech and science. 

The 2024-2025 Fellow in residence is Tabitha Jackson.