About Restless Device
At Restless Device, I help you understand and change your world.
There are many useful ideas that are only available to scholars and experts. History, social theory, political economy, philosophy, and other disciplines offer ways to untangle the present and imagine the future, but much of that thought is encrusted with difficult language and hidden in specialist journals.
I dive deep into scholarship to find the most helpful stories, ideas, and techniques. I transform them into tools that you can understand and use.
Restless Device is a work-in-progress. New projects and opportunities will show up here as I get them together, so don’t be a stranger!
LEARNING
I create learning experiences that help participants to explore and learn together. My classes often make projects in a mode of learning that brings together different kinds of skills, like academic, technical, and interpersonal. I work in a variety of context and with a range of ages, from university seminars to museum tours for preschoolers. Topics generally circle around how people make and share things and how best to share knowledge with other people.
PROJECTS
I share stories and ideas through a variety of media, including writing, videos, and museum exhibits. Working on my own and with others, these projects make things visible, understandable, and interesting. They can help people recognize new elements of their world and, hopefully, imagine making changes.
TINKERING
I also explore through making and tinkering. I often don’t feel like I really understand something until I try to make it.
How-to
How can I design a class that I would like to take?
I use to think that I needed to teach class according to the models I’d seen as a student. Now I just want to put together classes that I’d want to take. Here are some books I found as I’ve tried to learn to do that.
How to make your impossible project possible
If you’re like me, your projects start out with a beautiful visions that turn out to be impossible. Here’s how I focus my projects to make them better and more do-able.
What makes a place happy, healthy, and sustainable?
Imagine the best place you know. A place that made you feel alive— like all was well. How can the places you live, work, or hang out be like that? Here are some books I’ve found about making wonderful, live-enhancing place
How do kids learn without school?
As a kid, I always felt school got in the way of learning. It never occurred to me that there could be other options. Here is a list of books about other options.
ABOUT ME
Restless Device is created by me, Dave Unger, in Amherst, MA. I’m a historian of technology by training, a public historian by trade, and a tinkerer by inclination.
My work orbits around questions about work, skill, the poetics of technology, regional economics, and what it takes to create a humane life and society. I’ve shared what I’ve found in a wide variety of formats, including museum exhibits, videos, podcasts, elementary school programs, walking tours, and more.
I have a PhD in the History of Science from Harvard and I’ve worked a variety of contexts. I grew up on a farm in eastern Pennsylvania. At times I’ve worked as a laborer, organic gardener, rigger, house carpenter, and I built sets for tv and theater. I spent years designing, building, and installing museum exhibits. Lately, I’ve mostly worked in museums on the management/leadership side. At one point, I managed a team of twenty folks and a budget of 1.5 million dollars. These days I’m a lecturer in Harvard’s history of science department and look after the administration of a collection of old scientific instruments. See here for more details about past projects and activities.
If you’d like to collaborate with me or have a question, you can reach me at dave@restlessdevice.com.
