The Fall 2018 semester got up and running so quickly this year, we hardly had time to talk about it. We’re excited about many things this semester including our new part-time faculty member Nico van Dongen, faculty events with the Global Climate Action Summit, Service-Learning partnerships, an active AIGA @ USF Club, and more!
Welcome Nico van Dongen
This year we are excited to welcome Nico van Dongen to the Design Program where he is currently teaching Design Fundamentals, our new intro course. Nico is a passionate artist, designer and educator who believes that “design plays an essential role in life as it teaches, problem solving skills that venture beyond the classroom into the world at large.” Nico has taught at a number of other Bay Area colleges, and before teaching at USF he was a designer for USF’s Leo T McCarthy Center for the Public Service and the Common Good. He couldn’t be more excited to bring his passions together. “Teaching design at USF with a social justice focus, inspires me to develop new ideas for teaching and to create meaningful assignments that instill how to draw inspiration from within, as well as from the natural world. I believe it is important to always be learning new things. As the field of design is changing, learning never stops. My educational objective, is to let students discover how design is part of all their personal experiences.”
Global Climate Action Summit
Two of our Design Professors were actively involved with the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco.
Design Program Director and Associate Professor Rachel Beth Egenhoefer was involved with two affiliate events – one on the USF campus and one at AIGA SF. Rachel Beth was a panelist on “Being Human in the Anthropocene: Understanding the Human in our Impact” with several other faculty members from the College of Arts & Sciences. Later, she was the moderator for Compostmodern: What’s Next for Sustainable Design at AIGA SF.
Assistant Professor Noopur Agarwal was the graphic design lead for Coal + Ice, an immersive documentary photography exhibition and festival of events about climate change at Fort Mason.
AIGA @ USF
AIGA@USF is the official student group chapter of AIGA, the leading professional design organization. This years club is off to a strong start with many events planned including field trips, studio tours, and guest lectures. It’s not too late to join. Reach out to aigausfca@gmail.com or get in touch with Monika Mandreza or Danielle D’Onofrio.
