in the MFA Program in Design
California College of the Arts
800.447.1ART
http://www.cca.edu
California College of the Arts (CCA) is introducing a new concentration in interaction design within the MFA Program in Design in fall 2007. New courses include interaction design seminars and studios as well as transdisciplinary interaction studios in such areas as interactive objects and spaces.
Renowned designer, researcher, and author Brenda Laurel is the newly appointed chair of the MFA Program in Design at California College of the Arts (CCA). Under Laurel’s leadership, the curriculum adds interaction design to a program that already includes concentrations in communication design and industrial design. All design students will share core courses in design history, theory and criticism, research, materials and processes, futurism, strategy, and entrepreneurship. Each student is invited to engage in advanced coursework in any of the three graduate design program concentrations. Topic studios explore transdisciplinary themes in collaborative and individual contexts. Studies culminate with individual thesis projects.
“New styles and methods emerge from young designers who are ripping it up on the edge between play and transgression,” says Laurel. “Values like sustainability and social justice that were yesterday’s ‘extremes’ have become fundamental to contemporary practice. Design today is celebratory and transformative.” CCA’s MFA Program in Design intends to prepare students to enter dynamic design professions with skills, confidence, and well-tuned strategic thinking.
The MFA Program in Design is distinguished by CCA’s recognition and application of design as a holistic and transdisciplinary field. CCA’s studios and curriculum provide students the opportunity to investigate and combine traditional disciplines in order to address evolving social and cultural practices, new technologies, and ever-shifting contexts for design intervention. Design is grounded in skill, history, and criticism and it takes flight through futurism, informed speculation, and radical innovation.
Through lecture series, courses, and critiques students meet and collaborate with world-class thinkers and makers from the world of design as well as other disciplines including history, philosophy, business, government, science, and futurism. Guided by nationally and internationally renowned faculty, CCA offers students both a strong studio apprenticeship and opportunities to explore unconventional avenues of design expression.
For more information about CCA’s MFA Program in Design, visit http://www.cca.edu/academics/mfadesign .
