A Focus on the Individual—Creating a Design Education Open to All
A goal of the College of Design is to engage the university community in issues that surround and impact design. One very effective way to achieve this goal is to offer programs of study in design to the university population at large. This is the underpinning purpose of the Bachelor of Arts in Design Studies.
What is the Bachelor of Arts in Design Studies?
The Bachelor of Arts in Design Studies is a non-studio undergraduate degree in design meant for students who seek to become engaged in design but without necessarily becoming designers. The program offers an educational experience that is more general than the existing professional programs in the College of Design.
What are the programs of study?
The BA in Design Studies is a highly flexible program of studies with three specific directions. Much like a liberal arts degree, there is a general path where students select design and design-related courses offered in the college and throughout the university. There are also two concentrations that are more specific. One is Design History, with a strong focus of the historical aspects of design as they pertain to the disciplines in the college (approval pending). The other is Design Management. This concentration offers a selection of courses in management and human communication that complement design (approval pending). Irrespective of the direction selected, students will be expected to also acquire a breadth of design knowledge via courses taken from three categories: General Design, Design History, and Communication for Design.
What is the goal of the Bachelor of Arts in Design Studies?
Although a career in design is possible with a Bachelor of Arts in Design Studies, this is not the principal intention of the program. Rather, the program seeks to inform the student about the phenomenon of design in a more general way as well as with two concentrations. Consequently, the BA becomes an alternative degree program that addresses the needs of individual students who wish to become familiar with design.
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