Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Design with a Concentration in Innovation Studies

This program has been designed to teach graduate students who have accrued professional experience in communication design or a related discipline to "discover the power of ideas" by immersing them in learning situations wherein they actually have to invent methods that can potentially fuel the development of new processes, products and systems. What students learn during this experience will allow them to address the types of complex communications problems currently emerging in the world, and will prepare them to create or assume essential positions as leaders, collaborators, provocateurs, and empowered advocates for change within it. The active approach to learning that informs this curriculum emphasizes real-world problem identification and problem solving supported by empathy-building, select types of reasoning and iterative thinking. Students who emerge from this program will be prepared to pursue successful careers as communication design strategists, managers and project-based collaborators in the corporate world, the non-profit sector, or in the arena of communication design education at the post-secondary school level. Graduates from this program who wish to pursue academic careers will emerge from it well-equipped to function effectively in the university environment, and will have identified areas of design research that will be necessary for their growth and the attainment of tenure at the university level.