Department Blog
Department news, events, and snapshots of student life at SVA in New York City.
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Watch EI8TH: Our 2021 Thesis Presentations!
On May 14nd, the students of the Class of 2021 presented their Masters Thesis projects at the SVA Theatre—taped without an audience, but safely—and then livestreamed to the world. Enjoy the video in its entirety, with some snapshots of the day below!
2021 Core77 Design Awards: Helen Chen Wins in Two Categories!
This year’s Core77 Design Awards were just announced, and Products of Design alum Helen Chen won two awards for one of the projects she created as part of her Masters thesis, Fruiting Bodies: Fungal Futures for Collaborative Survival. The project, Internet of Mycelium was honored with the Student Winner in the Strategy & Research Award category, as well as a Student Runner Up in the Speculative Design Award category. Congratulations Helen!
Announcing EI8TH: MFA Products of Design Thesis Presentations are May 14!
We invite you to attend the Masters Thesis showcase presentations of the 2021 graduating class of the MFA in Products of Design program on Friday, May 14th at the SVA Theatre from 5-9pm EST. Fourteen graduating masters students will each present their year-long thesis work, comprised of research, artifacts, services, experiences, and platforms.
BIRTH REBORN: Using Design to Address Barriers to Equitable Maternal Care for Black Women
At a time when the maternal mortality rate in the US is soaring, Victoria Ayo's thesis, Birth Reborn: Using Design to Address Barriers to Equitable Maternal Care for Black Women, aims to give voice and power back to black women and mothers. Her project explores how design can build more awareness, facilitate the integration of ancestral knowledge, leverage the community, and help eliminate barriers to equitable birth outcomes. Victoria proposes new realities for collective care, bringing the wellbeing of mothers out of isolation and into solidarity.
Grandma’s Teeth: An Exploration of Feminine Voice, Power, and Reclamation
Stephanie Gamble’s thesis, Grandma’s Teeth: An Exploration of Feminine Voice, Power and Reclamation, is an in-depth examination of the physical, verbal, and emotional enforcement mechanisms of misogyny. Drawing from her own grandmother’s experience with the violence of misogyny, Stephanie designed a provocative body of work that interrogates and makes tangible how the enforcement mechanisms of misogyny are used to control and silence women. This thesis work proposes solutions that invert current power dynamics and challenge cultural values as a way to incite dialogue, ignite anger and impress upon men the substantial toll these experiences have on the daily lives of women.
2020 Core77 Design Awards: Stephanie Gamble Wins Speculative Design Runner Up
This year’s Core77 Design Awards were just announced, and recently-graduated Stephanie Gamble was recognized for Upbraid—one of the platforms she designed as part of her thesis work project. Congratulations Stephanie!
HOME IN PROGRESS: Designing Systems of Collective Care for Migrant Communities through Food and Multi-Sensory Experiences
Seona Joung, as a first-generation immigrant, has often dwelled in the in-between spaces of two geographies and cultures. Her thesis, Home in Progress: Designing Systems of Collective Care for Migrant Communities through Food and Multi-Sensory Experience, questions how design constructs and narrates a new relationship between people and multiple locations and thus serves as an ideal site to interrogate how immigrants relate themselves to the place of origin and the place of residence. Looking at the consequences of what migration does to the family relationship and social structure that influence our identity and health, her design work offers multilocal strategies that leverage sensory experiences, specifically triggered by food preparation and consuming.
BY CHOICE: Designing the Abortion Journey
Pantea Parsa grew up in Iran, where she encountered a confusing dichotomy: traditional Iranian society taught her that motherhood is the ultimate fulfillment for women, but, at home, she absorbed a different perspective. Her mother was an independent and successful woman who refused to be defined only as a mother and a wife. Pantea strived to be like her mother from a young age and ultimately decided that she doesn't want to become a mother in the future. However, should she become pregnant, she couldn't ignore the harsh reality that she would have to find an illegal back-alley abortion. For her thesis, By Choice: Designing the Abortion Journey, Pantea designed a suite of products that address the abortion journey from different lenses—including access, community, activism, and male accountability.
Transcending Blue: Adolescent Interconnection & Empathy in the Age of Screens
Through her thesis, Transcending Blue: Adolescent Interconnection & Empathy in the Age of Screens, Catherine Weislogel examines how digital technology usage impacts adolescent social and emotional well-being. While all humans are susceptible to the effects of the omnipresence of technology in their daily lives, children and adolescents, in the critical stages of brain development, are the most vulnerable.