An Interdisciplinary Design Education Framework

Abstract

Over the last decade many educational programs have integrated methodologies of design thinking across a variety of curriculums. This has cast a welcome light on creative processes and facilitated innovative solutions. Faculty and students in the sciences, humanities, business and technology now have resources to explore new possibilities and solutions that match their technologic capabilities. However, this framework for creative problem solving falls short in teaching core design and aesthetic principles. The challenge for educators becomes how to build shared learning environments between design and external domains. As an assistant professor in the New Media Design program at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), I have applied core design curriculum in an interdisciplinary program across design, development and digital humanities to begin this shared design education. This paper explores how an undergraduate design curriculum can be leveraged across technology and liberal arts fields to provide actionable skills, design vocabulary and aesthetic appreciation to the design thinking and practice.