mdp/l+f curriculum

5/20/2018 MDP/L+F Curriculum

1/12Art Center College of Design. Media Design Practices/Lab+Field 201415 Curriculum Overview. March 1, 2014. 1

Art Center College of Design

Media Design PracticesLab+Field MFA


2/12

Year 1: ConceptYear 0: Dev

The Development Year is an optional third

year that precedes entry into either track.

Lab and Field students are combined.

track-specifccoursework

calendar

cross-track

exchanges

Year 2: Thesis

dialecticalbus tour +

charette

sharedstudio

thesisreviews &symposia

ideasfair

Field>



The curriculum is designed to support

students from a range of backgrounds.

Two-year students are accomplished

designers while three-year students bring

valuable experience from other domains.

1. Jenny Rodenhouse, Lab 2015, 2-yearBachelor of Industrial Design, Industrial andInteraction DesignSyracuse University

2. Jeff Hall, Field 2013, 3-yearBachelor of Arts, English LiteratureWhittier College

3. Betsy Kalven, Field 2013, 3-year(shown with Oscar, a boda driver, on the left)Bachelor of Arts, Human RightsUniversity of Michigan

4. An Mina, Field 2013, 2-yearBachelor of Science, Psychology and Philosophywith Chinese MinorGeorgetown University

5. Nancy Kwon, Lab 2014, 3-yearBachelor of Fine Arts, Film/Video andPhotographic ArtsPratt Institute

6. Ian Besler, Lab 2014, 3-yearBachelor of Science, JournalismUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

7. Jeremy Eichenbaum, Lab 2013, 3-yearBachelor of Fine Arts, PhotographyCalifornia State University-Long Beach

8. Elizabeth Gin, Field 2013, 2-year

(shown with Mama Zaina, a market owner,on the left)Bachelor of Arts, Graphics Technology andInformation SystemsMessiah College

Media Design Practices/Lab+Field students

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Media Design Practices/Lab+Field faculty

The faculty bring multiple perspectives to a

curriculum founded largely on team-teaching.

They approach education as a creative

practice and critical dialogue.

The curriculum incorporates partnerships

as an opportunity for collaboration and

knowledge exchange. Project partners may

assume a co-faculty role with their MDP

counterparts.

1. Chris Fabian, UNICEF Innovation Unit Co-Lead,Field partner and co-faculty; Maria de Lamadrid,Field student; Sean Donahue, design researcher,Field core faculty

2. Wendy March, Design Devices Group, Intel, Labpartner and co-faculty; Zoe Padgett, Lab student;(unknown photographer); Ben Hooker, media artistand designer, Lab core faculty; Anne Burdick,media designer, MDP Chair

3. Aaron Fooshee, Lab student; Elise Co, interactiondesigner, Principal at Aeolab, Lab and Fieldfaculty

4. Tim Durfee, architect, Lab core faculty

5. Mimi Zeiger, design curator and critic, editorand publisher of Loudpaper, Lab faculty; Phil vanAllen, interaction designer, Lab core faculty

6. Rosten Woo, designer, writer, and co-founder ofthe Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP), Lab and Fieldfaculty; Norman Klein, cultural critic, media

historian, and novelist, Lab faculty

7. Dr. Christina Agapakis, UCLA synthetic biologist,partner and co-faculty; Yoon Choi, Lab student

8. Dr. Elizabeth Chin, anthropologist, Field corefaculty

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In the Lab track, students learn to use design

to participate in the development of new ideas

in technology, science, and culture.

Students learn to understand their work inthe context of cultural, technological, and

environmental change.

In order to position themselves as designers

in a range of domains new to design,

students learn to articulate their expertise and

communicate across disciplinary and cultural

boundaries.

To prepare for the independent research of

the Thesis Year, students learn to approach

design as a critical investigation through a

sequence of ve 4-week Lab Projects in the

Concept Year. The curated set of projects

challenges students to nd a fresh approach

to the crucial issues of the moment. 2013-14

topics included augmented reality, encryption

and privacy, synthetic biology, wearable

technology, and smart cities. Most projects

include an external collaborator or project

partner integrated as co-faculty or as host for

site visits, workshops, screenings, lectures,

or demos.

FROM CONCEPT YEAR TO THESIS WALTON CHIUS ESTIMATED

TIME OF ARRIVAL

1&2. Walton Chius thesis includes short filmsthat unfold within Google Maps to expose the wayalgorithms script and describe the (users) world.

2-5. The seeds for ETAcan be seen in Concept Yearprojects: (2) a sensing algorithm that controlsones life (3) a bat scientist followed by hisown personal drone; (4) a human sensing rover thatexplores nature; (5) an analog artifact from the

digital world that leads to a curious road trip.

Media Design Practices/Lab track overview

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4 5

voiceover: You see, girls, I have run off with one of your husbands.


6/12

Year 1: Concept Year 2: Thesis

Detourism

Ciphertexts& Cryptoblobs

BacterialCultures

WearableTransactions

SensoredStories

Lab ProjectsFive 4-week projects working with

technology, science and culture

Lab ThesisStructured design-led research that

builds upon a line of inquiry identied inthe prior years projects

Art Center College of Design. Media Design Practices/Lab+Field 201415 Curriculum Overview. March 1, 2014. 6

Media Design Practices/Lab track curriculum

Year 2: Thesis

Lab Thesis 1 & 2. This course

provides a structure of mile-

stones and workshops for

students as they develop their

individual thesis work. Faculty

mentors guide small groups ofstudents in the initial stages

then midway through the Fall

each student is assigned a lead

advisor who convenes the advi-

sory committee. Student work

may sit at the intersection of

multiple eldse.g. architecture

+ fashion + physical computing

or biology + interaction + lm.

Each committee member is se-

lected for the distinct disciplin-

ary perspective they bring to

the student work.

Students meet with regularly with

their lead advisor and committee

members individually and as a

group.

Critical Practices 1 & 2. This

course provides a reective space

for situating the thesis work as it

is under development. Students

learn to contextualize their work

within the literature and the eld

through both traditional and

design-research-based schol-

arly activities. Each student is

assigned a writing advisor who

works with them to develop thesis

statements and papers and learn

to approach writing as an integral

part of their practice.

In the Spring term, students learn

about intellectual property, entre-

preneurial strategies, scholarly

practices, and models for design

research and practice as it relates

to their own.

Thesis project: a body of work that makes acontribution to the eld

Thesis paper: sets the context for the project

Thesis publication: web-based documentation

Thesis exhibition: a physical installation forpublic presentation and critique

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Degree Requirements

Year 1: Concept

FALL

2 Lab Core A Structures

2 Lab Core B Interactions

2 Lab Core C People

6 Lab Projects 1

3 CriticalFrameworks 1

1 Colloquium

SPRING

12 Lab Projects 2


1 Colloquium

SUMMER

3 X-Term

Year 2: Thesis

FALL

12 Lab Thesis 1

3 Critical Practices 1

1 Colloquium

SPRING

12 Lab Thesis 2


66 TOTAL CREDITS

Course Descriptions

Year 1: Concept

Lab Core A Structures.In

this course students learn abouthow our interactions, lives, and

even thinking are structured: from

cities to computation to biology to

language. Students will learn to

approach the designing of struc-

tures as a way to generate the

unexpected rather than to merely

categorize or contain.

Lab Core B Interactions.

Whether getting things done,

biding time, following serendipity,

or being entertained, users are

readers, viewers, thinkers, andin

well-designed interactions ac-

tive participants who build their

own experiences and meaning

spaces. To learn how to design

with this approach, called produc-

tive interaction, students create a

tangible interaction as the means

to explore an information space.

Lab Core C Interventions.

This course is a hands-on inves-

tigation into how people engage

with the world around them, pow-

ered by a motivation to explore

and to develop new modes of

perception. Using everything from

low-tech electronics to social me-dia, students will learn to interact

with people and places with the

goal of generating new insights

into each.

Lab Projects 1 & 2 Inquiries.

Lab Projects are a series of

four-week-long conceptual

projects called Inquiries that

are built around a theme emerg-

ing from culture, technology or

science. Inquiries begin with

a phenomenon and ask what

if? Each inquiry engages

external collaborators, project

partners, and travel to locations

or extraordinary situations.

The projects that result take a

variety of forms. Students learn

to: approach design as a critical

investigation; to structure their

time and working process; to

document and articulate project

concepts in presentation, ex-

hibition, and web formats; and

most importantly, to work reex-

ively and situate their projects

within multiple domains.

Critical Frameworks 1 & 2

Lab. In this course students

engage with ideas-in-the-making,

working directly with the thought

leaders and creative practitioners

who are making them. In the class,

guest instructors workshop ideas

from a project that is underway or

has just been completed, through

readings, screenings, talks, and

eld trips. Students learn to orient

themselves in a domain of new

ideas and respond with writ-

ing that can take many different

forms from tweets to ontological

schemata to conference papers to

short stories.

Summer X-Term. Over the sum-

mer, the program shifts gears,

hosting research projects led by

visiting researchers and faculty.

Students take a 3-unit lite term

and can apply to be an intern on a

research project, do an off-campus

internship, or take additional

coursework in another domain.

On- and off-campus internships

are carefully selected to expose

students to new models of practice

and tend to be research-oriented.

Off-campus internships include

places such as the Jet Propulsion

Laboratory/NASA, Intel Research

or the United Nations.



Field track students learn to use design and

technology reexively to engage with people

and impact social issues.

Students learn to understand their workin relation to the systems and networks

political, economic, social, and techno-

logicalthat support, exploit, or dene

peoples lives.

In order to position themselves as designers

in a range of domains new to design, students

learn to bring their expertise together with

others in a relationship built upon reciprocity

and mutual respect.

To prepare for the independent research of

the Thesis Year, students learn to develop the

depth of engagement that eldwork requires

by spending two terms in their Concept Year

working in a developing world context, using

one of UNICEFs Innovation Labs as a eld

studio. In the Field Projects course, students

are challenged to identify the issues and

communities with which they wish to engage.

FROM CONCEPT YEAR TO THESIS JUDY TORETTIS ENGAGING

THE UNSPOKEN: WOMEN IN THE WORKPLACE

1. In her thesis, Judy Toretti examined the issuesthat executive women face as they deal with theirmale peers. Shown here: a study of the genderpolitics of the postures and positions of sitting.

2. During her fieldwork in Uganda, Judy created aset of spoons whose hidden contents (money, anice pick, and a land deed), provided a tangibleconversation tool to uncover the predicamentof middle class women who, in spite of theireducation and class, still face domestic violenceand lack of access to money and land.

MDP/Field is run in partnership with Designmatters.

Media Design Practices/Field track overview

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8/12

Year 1: Concept Year 2: Thesis

The curriculum includes eldwork, prototyping

and testing during two trips totalling a minimum

of 10 weeks abroad.

Field ProjectsOne 2-term project working on social

issues in a developing world context

Field ThesisStructured design-led research

that builds upon prior eldwork

or branches in a new direction.


Media Design Practices/Field track curriculum

Thesis project: a contribution to designand social change

Thesis publication: documentationdesigned for knowledge-sharing withspecic communities of practice

Thesis presentation: a public presentation

4 weeks 6 weeks

Degree Requirements

Year 1: Concept

FALL

3 Field Core A Theory, Method,Research

3 Field Core B Media, People,Publics

3 Field Core C Technology forSocial Change

3 Field Projects 1


1 Colloquium

SPRING

12 Field Projects 23 Critical

Frameworks 2

1 Colloquium

SUMMER

3 X-Term

Year 2: Thesis

FALL

12 Field Thesis 1


1 Colloquium

SPRING

12 Field Thesis 2


66 TOTAL CREDITS

Course Descriptions

Year 1: Concept

Concept Year courses are held in

the Media Design studio and in the

eld. Students and faculty spenda minimum of 10 weeks working

abroad across two separate trips.

Field Core A Theory, Method,

Research. What is the role of

the designer in working toward

social change? Exploring the

mutually inected relationships

between theory, method and

design researchas gleaned from

anthropology and the social sci-

encesstudents will work toward

developing a research-based,

critically reexive, and socially-

engaged design practice.

Field Core B Media Design,

People, Publics. Students learn

the unique capacities of design

as a mode of inquiry. The course

will host a critical dialogue about

media design in a cross-cultural

context and how can it be used

to foster relationships with people

and publics. Students will learn

about designs historical role in

social environments and explore

the design of new frameworks for

social engagement.

Field Core C Technology forSocial Change.An introduction

to information and communication

systems for the global networked

public sphere. Students leave with

a core competency in program-

ming, network communication, and

community information analysis,

through a mixture of theory, practi-

cal learning and experimentation

with de novo social networks, non-

standard communication systems,

and other forms of culture hacking.

Field Projects 1 & 2 This

course combines structuredactivities with time for individual

exploration and reection in

the studio and the eld. How

does one enter a new situa-

tion and begin to understand

(or interpret) points for design

interventions? How does one

evaluate and work with (or will-

fully ignore) social and cultural

dynamics, politics, and ones

own position as a designer?

How does one negotiate the

needs and expectations of

project partners, design team

members, and the local commu-

nity? Perhaps most importantly,

how does each student nd

their own entry point and con-

nect it to their own design and

research interests? Students

will learn to develop a social

network (informants, potential

users, collaborators, fabrica-

tors, competitors), understand

their own responsibilities to

the project in the near and longterm, both ethical and logistical.

Critical Frameworks 1 & 2

Students consider issues from the

project in the context of political/

social theory, case studies from

other elds, issues in develop-

ment, the rhetoric of good, and

cross-cultural design. Students

learn project documentation prac-

tices, how to use writing as a tool

for critical reection, and how to

connect individual experience with

wider issues to develop individual

research agendas.

Summer X-Term. Over the sum-

mer, students take a 3-unit lite

term and can apply to be an intern

on a research project led by facul-

ty or guest researchers, do an off-

campus internship, take additional

coursework in another domain, or

continue their eldwork.

Year 2: Thesis

Lab Thesis 1 & 2. This course

provides a structure of mile-

stones and workshops for

students as they develop their

individual thesis work. Faculty

mentors guide small groups ofstudents in the initial stages

then midway through the Fall

each student is assigned a lead

advisor who convenes the advi-

sory committee. Student work

may sit at the intersection of

multiple eldse.g. anthropol-

ogy + architecture + physical

computing or open networks

+ interaction + gender studies.

Each committee member is se-

lected for the distinct disciplin-

ary perspective they bring to

the student work.

Students meet with regularly withtheir lead advisor and committee

members individually and as a

group.

Critical Practices 1 & 2. This

course provides a reective space

for situating the thesis work as it

is under development. Students

learn to contextualize their work

within the literature and the eld

through both traditional and

design-research-based schol-

arly activities. Each student is

assigned a writing advisor who

works with them to develop thesis

statements and papers and learn

to approach writing as an integral

part of their practice.

In the Spring term, students learn

about social entrepreneurship, the

world of international develop-

ment, activist practices, scholarly

practices, and models for design

research as it relates to the devel-opment of their own practice.



Media Design Practices/Lab+Field contexts+partners

Students in both tracks learn to design with

contextual specicity. Strategic partnerships

integrated into the curriculum give students

direct access to people and sites and

provide the opportunity for collaboration andknowledge exchange.

Lab Project contexts range from tech industry

R&D to scientic research labs to cultural

organizations. Students learn to articulate the

contributions they can make as designers

within the disciplinary cultures of each

domain. They learn to build collaborations

around shared inquiries.

LAB CONTEXTS:

1. The view from Mission Control at NASAs JetPropulsion Laboratory

2. The surveillance network in the ceiling of theMontage Casino in Las Vegas

3. The floor at Intel Research

4. Separating DNA at LA Biohackers

Field students learn to address social issues

in contexts ranging from the board room to

urban slums. The Field Tracks partnership

with UNICEFs Innovation Labs provides

students with a homebase in an international

setting, however students must learn to

identify their own local collaborators based on

common goals and reciprocity.

FIELD CONTEXTS:

1. In an L.A. recording studio with youth fromJovenes, Inc., a homeless youth support shelter

2. The entrance to UNICEF Technology for DevelopmentInnovation Lab, Kampala, Uganda

3. Outside United Nations HQ, New York

4. A community market in Englewood, Chicago

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10/12

cross-track

excha

nges

dialecticalbus tour +

charette

sharedstudio

thesisreviews &symposia

ideasfair

Field>< Lab Confabs. Pairs of

students, one from each track, de-

velop a joint pecha-kucha in which

their projects are juxtaposed. They

must identify points of overlap and

shared interest as well as points

of difference. They conclude with

new questions that have arisenfrom the combination of projects.

Ideas Fair.At the end of the

Concept year, each student gets a

table on which to display the work

they have created to date.

Faculty, guest critics, and students

circulate.

Thesis Reviews & Symposia.

Thesis work from each track is

exhibited in the same gallery, but

the activities that surround each

are slightly different. Field studentspresent their work in a symposium

format while Lab students show

work in a project critique context.

Guest respondents and critics, as

well as students from all year lev-

els and tracks participate in each.

The dialogue between the two tracks is

supported through the physical arrangement

of the space and the rhythm of the programs

schedule. Events that foster discussion

and debate are distributed throughout

the curriculum, timed to maximize cross-pollination.


11/12


Activities led by faculty, students, and staff

create synergy between the two tracks

through knowledge-sharing, co-learning,

assumption-challenging, cross-appropriating,

debate-staging, and question-raising.

1. Shared Studio. Looking down on the student studiosin the late afternoon.

2. Field>


12/12


Media Design Practices/ Field>

mdp/l+f curriculum

Documents

field partner

lab faculty7

design researcher

design curator

lab core faculty5

lab core faculty6

field core faculty2

curriculum overview