ARTS1109 · Fine Arts

Design is Human

Morrissey College of Arts & Sciences

Design today is buzzed about in fields as diverse as business, medicine, and engineering. But if design can mean everything from the swoosh on a shoe to preparing coastal cities for sea-level rise, how do we comprehend this elastic concept? Considering specific examples from graphic, fashion, and product design, studying the shaping of place by architects, planners and infrastructure engineers, and finally exploring the virtual worlds of gaming, the internet and social media, this introductory course critically surveys design practices from the late-nineteenth to early-twenty-first century to understand what design has promised, what it delivered, and what it could still become.