Art & Design: Design for Responsible Innovation, MFA

for the degree of Master of Fine Arts in Art and Design, Design for Responsible Innovation Concentration

MFA in Design for Responsible Innovation 

The three-year MFA in Design for Responsible Innovation at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign cultivates designers who envision and create inclusive futures in academia, industry, and communities. We invite students with design or design-adjacent* academic or professional backgrounds to apply. We prepare our graduates to drive responsible innovation in design practice and pedagogy by addressing pressing contemporary questions around climate change, ethics and social justice, equity, technology access, identity, and cultures. We equip our students with the knowledge and skills to build a more equitable and sustainable world through traditional and emerging practices including, but not limited to, graphic design, visual analytics, systems and service design, multimodal interaction, and visual communication and narrative.

* Students without an undergraduate design degree will enroll in design studio electives focused on tools, methods, and skill building in their first graduate year.
 
The MFA DRI consists of three years of coursework totaling 64 credit hours and a thesis project which can be delivered in either of these ways:
  • Option 1: A written thesis document + exhibition in the the Krannert Art Museum
  • Option 2: A written thesis document + two national peer-reviewed conference presentations + public on-campus lecture here at Illinois

Admission

Applications are considered for Fall Semester admissions only. International applicants need to submit a recent English Proficiency test score of 96 (TOEFL) or 6.5 (IELTS), or an exemption, for admissions.

Graduate Teaching Experience

Although teaching is not a general Graduate College requirement, experience in teaching is considered an important part of the graduate experience for master and doctoral students.

Facilities and Resources

Resources for graduate students in art and design include the Krannert Art Museum’s excellent permanent collections and changing exhibitions; the Ricker Library of Art and Architecture, one of the largest art and architecture libraries in the nation; the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts; School of Art and Design facilities, which include extensive computer laboratories, digital photography and video editing equipment, wireless networking, ink-printing facilities, ceramic, woodworking, and metal shops, rapid prototyping and laser cutting, black/white and color darkrooms, shooting studios, and a wide selection of production and presentation equipment via reservation and checkout facility. A variety of lectures, symposia, musical programs, dramatic productions, and other cultural events associated with a large and progressive university complement the Art and Design Facilities.

Financial Aid

Fellowships, assistantships, and tuition and service fee waivers are awarded each year on a competitive basis, with consideration given to the applicant’s grade point average and, in the case of applicants for the M.F.A. programs, quality of creative work.

for the degree of Master of Fine Arts in Art and Design, Design for Responsible Innovation Concentration

ARTD 451Ethics of a Designer in a Global Economy4
ARTD 551Design for Responsible Innovation Research Impact4
ARTD 570Design for Responsible Innovation Research Methodology4
ARTD 595MFA Design for Responsible Innovation Studio16
ARTD 599Thesis8
Electives16
Elective Courses in the College of Fine and Applied Arts 12
Total Hours64

Other Requirements

Minimum 500-level Hours Required Overall 32
Minimum GPA 2.75

for the degree of Master of Fine Arts in Art and Design, Design for Responsible Innovation Concentration

By the end of the program, students will be able to:

  1. Demonstrate familiarity with the design research literature relevant to their topic.
  2. Create prototypes for research purposes. 
  3. Explain the different epistemological modes of knowledge production.
  4. Select research methods appropriate to the thesis topic.

for the degree of Master of Fine Arts in Art and Design, Design for Responsible Innovation Concentration 

School of Art & Design

School of Art & Design
Art & Design faculty
School Director: Brooke White
Director of Graduate Studies: Terri Weissman
Associate Director of Design: Lynne Dearborn
138 Art and Design Building, 408 East Peabody Drive, Champaign, IL 61820
Graduate Office: (217) 333-0642

Graduate Studies Advisors:

MA; PhD in Art History: David O'Brien
MA; EdM; PhD in Art Education: Laura Hetrick
MFA in Studio: Ryan Griffis and Emmy Lingscheit and Conrad Bakker
MFA in Industrial Design: Carlos Aguiar
MFA in Design for Responsible Innovation: Nekita Thomas

College of Fine & Applied Arts

College of Fine & Applied Arts

Admissions

Ellen de Waard
Graduate College Admissions Requirements