Parsons School of Design Integrated Design Curriculum student work
Online Access
Available digital items: https://digital.archives.newschool.edu/index.php/Detail/collections/PC020601
Summary
Collection consists of senior-level student work produced during the first five graduating classes of Parsons School of Design's Integrated Design Curriculum program.
Dates
- 2004 - 2009
Creator
- Parsons School of Design (Sponsor, Organization)
- Rabinovitz, Robert (Donor, Person)
Extent
1.6 Cubic Feet (2 boxes, 6 folders)
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection primarily consists of representative senior theses from the first five years of Integrated Design Curriculum graduating classes.
Theses typically take the form of illustrated bound reports, often in book form. Dimensions, binding, materials used in the production of the report, and ratio of text to visual materials vary widely. Most of the theses were produced using digital software, although some, such as Robin Hasty's handmade book focusing on the Brooklyn neighborhood of Red Hook, are screen printed.
No syllabi or assignment prompts are included in this collection. It is unclear if the materials in the collection consist of final completed theses, or if they are drafts. Years may be estimated and should not be interpreted as the definitive year of student's graduation.
Language of Materials
One folder contains student projects in both Spanish and English.
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research use. Please contact archivist@newschool.edu for appointment.
Use Restrictions
In accordance with The New School's Intellectual Property Rights Policy, copyright is held by each work's respective author. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the user.
Historical Note
The Integrated Design Curriculum (IDC), originally situated in the now defunct Department of Core Studies, was an interdisciplinary program for undergraduate BFA candidates studying in a minimum of two departments of Parsons School of Design. The first cohort of IDC students graduated in 2004, having entered Parsons in 2000 when IDC classes were first introduced for "academically advanced" students who wished to combine liberal arts methodologies with design.
The senior year IDC project was known as a Design Enterprise Project and involved students undertaking an interdisciplinary research project to investigate a social issue and propose a design-based response. According to the founding director of IDC, Ken Stevens, "It is the notion of enterprise that sets the DEP apart from the usual thesis inquiries familiar to the liberal arts and traditional design disciplines. In portraying the feasability of their projects, the IDC seniors are required to show an appreciation of social realities and to anticipate the needs of an emerging economy embedded in an ever-changing culture" (Ready for Action: Design Enterprise Projects 2005).
As of 2016, Integrated Design still exists as a program within the School of Design Strategies. Projects continue to focus on ameliorating social inequality through design and fostering sustainability within the design disciplines.
Organization and Arrangement
Arranged in 2 series: 1. General, 2004-2005 2. Senior theses, 2004-2009
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Records transferred to the New School Archives and Special Collections by School of Design Strategies professor Robert Rabinovitz, 2013.
Processing Information
Processed with assistance from Cynthia Lawson while she was Associate Provost of Design Strategies (2013). Yenna Chan's Art and Design Practice class contributed suggestions for the finding aid's completion (2017).
- Corporate image (Subject) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Design (Subject) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Student projects (Type of Material) Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Theses (Type of Material) Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Title
- Guide to the Parsons School of Design Integrated Design Curriculum student work
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- New School Archives and Special Collections Staff
- Date
- October 31, 2017
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Revision Statements
- March 16, 2021: Jenny Swadosh added an Other Finding Aids note and Spanish as a language present in the collection.