“I agree that it is a great value for students to know that they have tools to effect massive change, and not always within a for-profit organization.” Enrique Von Rohr, Director of Strategic Development The case studies included in this site illustrate only a small portion of the many ways educators are bringing social responsibility into the Visual Communications classroom. In each instance, they have been created from resources, provided by educators, which highlight their methodology and approach to this important topic. Note: A number of these case studies are quite large. Depending upon your internet connection, they may take some time to load. |
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| Art Center College of Design   |
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| Art Institute of Phoenix  |
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Keith Bennett Academic Director “There are quite a few non-profit organizations fighting over the same dollar. So [including social responsibility in the curriculum] helps the student understand how important it is to think intelligently and be good stewards of their resources.” Case Study Includes: Personal Interview Program Overview Student’s Work Download Case Study > (208 kb pdf) |
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Daemen College  |
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Kimberly Fleischman Assistant Professor “In my classes, I try to introduce projects that address an issue (social, political, religious, etc). [Students] begin to understand how their profession can affect ones attitude about such topics.” Case Study Includes: Center for Sustainable Communities and Civic Engagement Course Project Project Recap Project Deliverables Download Case Study > (1.3 mb pdf) |
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| Grand Valley State University  |
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Lorelle Otis Thomas Professor “Students have developed some excellent concepts and appropriate, dynamic designs. These types of opportunities create citizen designers.” Case Study Includes: Personal Interview Course Syllabi Projects in Sustainability Projects in Social ResponsibilIty Download Case Study > (6 mb pdf) |
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| Kansas City Art Institute |
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Tyler Galloway Assistant Professor “It’s important that students realize that design can serve many different ends beyond commercial culture. It can be used in education, information display, entertainment, and as a persuasive tool. At KCAI, we are trying to demonstrate those uses through the types of projects we assign throughout the curriculum.” Case Study Includes: Visual Advocacy Course Documents Download Case Study > (180 kb pdf) |
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| Maryland Institute College of Art  |
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Bernard J. Canniffe Chair, Graphic Design “We are focusing on creating markets, working with micro lenders and trying to address world socioeconomic projections. Of course it’s a tall order—but you have to dream big because the problem is huge and important.” Case Study Includes: Blue Collar Theory MICA/JHU Design Coalition MICA/JHU Coalition Course Syllabi MICA/JHU Coalition Student Projects Download Case Study > (4.3 mb pdf) |
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| Massachusetts College of Art and Design  |
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Lisa Rosowsky Chair, Communications Design “Although each faculty member brings their own experience and philosophy regarding social responsibility into their classrooms, social responsibility is woven into the fabric of our entire program.” Case Study Includes: About The Center for Art and Community Partnerships How to Get Involved Partnership Guidelines Developing Community Partnerships Applications Resources Projects Download Case Study > (536 kb pdf) |
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| Metropolitan State College of Denver  |
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Lisa Abendroth Communication Design Coordinator and Associate Professor “As an educator, my pedagogy focuses on creating course content that exhibits a social awareness within the field of design at large. Directing the studio of Culture / Language / Dialogue, I develop projects which promote collaboration through an understanding of culture.” Case Study Includes: Project: Design Research Methods Project: Ethnographic Strategies Exhibition: Substance—Diverse Practices from the Periphery Download Case Study > (1.7 mb pdf) |
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Ohio Northern University  |
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Brit Rowe Chair, Assistant Professor “My goal for these types of assignments is to get students thinking of themselves as citizens, and taking on values and responsibilities as citizens. I want them to think about the choices they make, and how their work has an impact beyond Visual Communications.” Case Study Includes: Personal Interview Course Syllabi Download Case Study > (312 kb pdf) |
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| Rochester Institute of Technology |
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Lorrie Frear Assistant Professor; Carol Fillip Visiting Professor Graphic Design; and Patti Lachance Associate Professor / Administrative Chair “Social responsibility is a major concern in all of the design courses in the School of Design at RIT. Students are continually reminded that they are responsible for the messages they put out there and that design does have the ability to affect change.” Case Study Includes: Pro Bono Project Descriptions Download Case Study > (128 kb pdf) |
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Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design  |
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Martin Mendelsberg Core Faculty: Graphic Design and Interactive Media “Visual communication students are hypersensitive to corporate culture and especially contemporary advertising. They reject traditional forms of messaging and seek independence, as they inhabit social networks such as ‘myspace’ and ‘facebook.’ My courses address social, political, and historical content. They empower students to practice research, writing, speaking, and visual presentation. The outcomes clearly demonstrate emotional and intellectual connections to socially relevant subjects.” Case Study Includes: Syllabus: Visual Sequencing Project 1: Life at the San, the private letters of Morris and Sadye Diamond Project 2: Patient 2743, Prisoner 91361, Dr. Ali Kuci Download Case Study > (13.4 mb pdf) |
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Savanna College of Art and Design  |
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Stephen T. Hall Chair “[Social responsibility] is important to our curriculum just as it is important to the advertising industry. Our curriculum mirrors the profession, so naturally social responsibility is part of it.” Case Study Includes: Personal Interview Course Description Course Syllabus News Project: Homelessness Download Case Study > (728 kb pdf) |
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| School of Visual Arts  |
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Lita Talarico Co-chair of the MFA Designer As Author Program at the School of Visual Arts, New York “Students are citizens. Designers are citizens. Citizens must be engaged in the world they live in.” — Steven Heller, Co-chair of the MFA Designer As Author Program at the School of Visual Arts, New York Case Study Includes: Adobe Article: Designer as Author CA Article: Design=Heart? Stefan Sagmeister asks design students; Can design touch someone’s heart? Project: Socks for the Holidays Download Case Study > (660 kb pdf) |
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Sessions Online School of Design  |
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Nomi Altabef Director of Student Experience “This is a way for students to get their work used in a real-world scenario while learning a sense of social responsibility—learning that as Visual Communicators they have a great deal of power that can be used to motivate and mobilize people, and represent organizations that might otherwise not get their message across.” Case Study Includes: Personal Interview Competition Announcements Project: Joyful Heart Foundation Project: Urban Word NYC Download Case Study > (1.2 mb pdf) |
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Tyler School of Art at Temple University  |
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Stephanie Knopp Professor “Working on social responsibility projects has been a component of the design program here for many years. Virtually all Tyler graphic design students have at least one social responsibility project in their portfolios upon graduation.” Case Study Includes: Program Overview Project: Trail Map Project: Green on Screen Film Posters Project: Native Plant Sale Poster Project: Native Plant Insect Festival Poster Project: New Orleans Musicians Assistance Foundation Logo Project: New Orleans Musicians’ Clinic Logo Project: Packaging designs for the Museum’s supermarket exhibit Project: Jazz Nites Logo Project: Academic Press Identity Project: T-Shirt Designs Download Case Study > (2.3 mb pdf) |
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University of Bridgeport |
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Amy Papaelias Assistant Professor of Graphic Design “While social responsibility projects are not a requirement, the idea of being a citizen of the world is vital to our program.” Case Study Includes: Poster Contest: Sexual Assault Prevention In the News Student’s Work Download Case Study > (6.3 mb pdf) |
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| University of Central Missouri  |
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John Lynch Download Case Study > (6.9 mb pdf) |
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| University of Illinois at Urbana— Champaign  |
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Eric Benson Assistant Professor “Whether by an architect, industrial, fashion or graphic designer, the objects and systems that play a key role in shaping our everyday lives have been intentionally created to support a cause or to be sold in the marketplace. With that in mind the designers’ power to enact a sustainable and equitable change is profound.” Case Study Includes: EDGE: Ethics of a Designer in a Global Economy EDGE Course Assignments with Student’s Work Resources Download Case Study > (13.5 mb pdf) |
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| University of Kansas  |
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Patrick Dooley Professor of Design “Graphic design is a profession that can contribute to visual pollution and the landfill, so I think it's important to teach students how relevant graphic design can be to communicating something meaningful.” — Andi Witczak, Director, Center for Service Learning Case Study Includes: Project: Midland Care Connection Syllabus Student’s Work Download Case Study > (10.7 mb pdf) |
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| University of Notre Dame  |
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Robert Sedlack Associate Professor “We are fortunate to have a group of very motivated students. Students with a keen understanding of social injustice. These students realize how fortunate they are to be in school, and that with ability comes responsibility. They are eager to use their communication skills to advance social causes that they are passionate about.” Case Study Includes: Interviews Project: Bon Sel Course Syllabi Course Assignments Student’s Work Download Case Study > (5.6 mb pdf) |
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University of Wisconsin—Stout  |
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Ambica Prakash Assistant Professor Graphic Design “It is important for students to experience the various aspects of design—commercial, social, cultural and political.” Case Study Includes: Personal Interview News Project: Sophomore Service Learning Project: Junior Level Project Project: One in Four Project: United Way Download Case Study > (700 kb pdf) |
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Virginia Commonwealth University  |
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Peyton Rowe Associate Professor, Media Graphics + Design “I believe that design is by it’s very nature a socially aware discipline as well as a service discipline. Designers like to solve problems and be involved with their communities. Why not give to those organizations that can’t afford it the power of your skills to communicate visually?” Case Study Includes: Philosophy on Causal Design About CreateAthon onCampus Nonprofit Project Development Syllabus CreateAthon onCampus Schedules, Teams and Application CreateAthon onCampus Completed Projects CreateAthon onCampus Event Photos Download Case Study > (2.1 mb pdf) |
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Virginia Commonwealth University  |
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Noah Scalin Adjunct Faculty “Marketing/design is an incredibly powerful tool and it is reprehensible not to give students an understanding of the positive and negative effects it can have on the real world around them.” Case Study Includes: Personal Interview Design Rebels Syllabus Project: Shop RVA Project: Rise Now Download Case Study > (5.4 mb pdf) |
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| Washington University in St. Louis  |
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Enrique Von Rohr Director of Strategic Development “I agree that it is a great value for students to know that they have tools to effect massive change, and not always within a for-profit organization.” Case Study Includes: Personal Interview Press Release Program Overview Visual Communications Resource Studio Projects Additional Information Download Case Study > (2.4 mb pdf)  |
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| last update: 8/18/08 | |
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