Initiatives
April 12, 2011 · 0 comments
Listed below are initiatives currently being undertaken by the Design Educators Community steering committee members that we believe will enhance and provide value to design educators. The Resources section of this site includes completed initiatives.
Design Faculty Research Grant
The Design Faculty Research Grant is an ongoing initiative. Through a competitive, peer-review process, one grant of $5000 is awarded annually to provide support for design research. This includes scholarship that generates new knowledge, integrates design knowledge into other disciplines as an influential force, or explores new pedagogies through the teaching of design and evaluation of learning outcomes. Thus far, we have awarded three grants and will begin our fourth annual call for proposals in spring 2011. The research projects that we have recently funded can be found in the Resources section of this site.
Pro Bono Models to Engage Academia
More information coming soon.
Education meets Practice meets Education
More information coming soon.
AIGA/NASAD Two-Year Education Briefing Paper
This briefing paper will contribute to the spectrum of other briefing papers prepared by AIGA for NASAD. This paper is intended to help all concerned – from prospective students to faculties to internal and external evaluators to institutional administrators to employers – consider the extent to which two-year graphic design programs can accomplish their published goals and the clarity and accuracy of projections about career preparation or preparation for further graphic design study. UPDATE: A draft of this paper has been submitted to and revised by NASAD. It is now in the review stage at NASAD. We’ll keep you posted on any new developments.
Two-Year Programs and Community College Educators
Faculty at two-year programs are eager to share in a dialogue about the challenges they face that are inherently different than traditional four-year programs. The primary objective of this initiative is to expand participation of two-year colleges in AIGA’s educator community. As feeder institutions for bachelor’s programs as well as some sectors of the profession, community colleges address an important role in the education of future designers and media arts professionals. This initiative also aims to assist in the development a resource to support faculty in two-year programs, allowing them to share information and ideas with each other as well as the wider AIGA Design Educators Community.
Design Research Database
Faculty at two-year programs are eager to share in a dialogue about the challenges they face that are inherently different than traditional four-year programs. The primary objective of this initiative is to expand participation of two-year colleges in AIGA’s educator community. As feeder institutions for bachelor’s programs as well as some sectors of the profession, community colleges address an important role in the education of future designers and media arts professionals. This initiative also aims to assist in the development a resource to support faculty in two-year programs, allowing them to share information and ideas with each other as well as the wider AIGA Design Educators Community.
Learning Through Design
As those of us involved in higher education endeavor to ensure the relevance and currency of our curricula and methods, the word “design” keeps popping up. Perhaps one of the passionate instances of this intersection was in a presentation at the October 2009 national AIGA conference “Make/Think,” when Bennington College president Elizabeth Coleman posited that “we are desperately in need of a new liberal arts,” one that unites thought and action, privileges ideas and imagination, and honors collaboration over isolation. The key component in her rethinking of a liberal arts education is design. “Design – understood as a systematic, collaborative way of addressing problems and transforming possibilities – is a prime candidate for the new set of studies needed to revitalize higher education,” she said.