The PhD Program in the College of Design strongly believes in the benefits derived from an interdisciplinary experience while at ASU. Consequently, the College developed several academic connections with other programs at the university. Such connections provide our PhD students with enviable opportunities for interdisciplinary studies and research. For example, many courses offered in these programs are both relevant and available to PhD students. Furthermore, faculty members from these other programs can participate as members of a student’s dissertation committee, although they cannot serve as chairs.
The Department of Applied Biological Sciences offers its PhD through the College of Design. Consequently, the two academic units are closely interconnected. For example, PhD students in the Department adhere to the same curriculum as all PhD students in the College of Design.
The Department of Applied Biological Sciences is located on the Polytechnic campus. It has established a reputation as a unit that offers “…rigorous and practical programs in applications of the biological sciences. Consistent with our polytechnic vision, our programs involve extensive student interaction with the faculty through experience-based learning activities including laboratories, field trips, internships, and faculty-guided research and service-learning projects.” Areas of research interest include wildlife biology, wildlife and restoration ecology, urban horticulture, and environmental biotechnology.
Arts/Media/Engineering is an interdisciplinary fusion of three disciplines with a focus on researching the integration of the human physical experience with computation and digital media through. As articulated on the A/M/E website, the research in this field is undertaken by way of:
- Integrated sensing of physical and digital human activity
- Extracting meaning from hybrid physical-digital human activity
- Sensitization through meaningful digital feedback
- Emergence of new knowledge
- Preparing experiential media specialists across the arts, sciences, and engineering
The College of Design offers a concentration in Design and Experimental Media in cooperation with A/M/E. PhD students opting for this concentration take some of their courses and do their research with A/M/E. Faculty in A/M/E are also members of the student’s dissertation committee.
The School of Human Evolution and Social Change (formerly the Department of Anthropology) is well positioned to provide an academic connection with the PhD Program in the College of Design. Several of its core research themes—Societies and Their Natural Environments; Culture, Heritage, and Identity; Urban Societies; and Global Dynamics and Regional Interactions—are particularly well suited for PhD students in Environmental Design and Planning.
Similar to the other academic connections, PhD students in the College of Design can enroll in courses in the School as well as avail themselves of the expertise of faculty by having them sit on their dissertation committees.
The School of Sustainability has several very explicit goals in its academic mandate. Together with the Global Institute of Sustainability, it engages students in new academic and research programs that embody:
- Collaborative Learning
- Transdisciplinary Approaches
- Problem-Oriented Training
At present, PhD students in the College of Design can engage with the School of Sustainability in two ways. First, they can enroll in graduate-level courses offered by the School. Second, faculty members of the School can serve on a student’s dissertation committee.
It is important to note that several faculty members in the College of Design have joint appointments with the School of Sustainability.
There are also plans for a certificate in sustainability in the near future.
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