DSI

1 week until the Jan. 15th Priority Deadline! An early application increases your likelihood of being considered for the program. If you’re passionate about bettering this world and taking back the future, you’re going to want to reserve your place here. We make note of go-getter candidates who show this additional initiative. https://dsi.sva.edu/apply/

We are excited to welcome our Spring 2021 Designers in Residence: Out Labs! Out Labs is a new small design agency built by 2020 Alums Ryana Bryan, Grace Kang, and Monica Tarriba, who we are so happy to have back in the DSI environment. The trio kindly took the time to answer some questions about their vision for this project, and provided a look into how they plan to work with our students to co-design a space to interrogate cultural competencies around race, gender, and the intersectionalities of their privilege and power. Read more about the work they will be doing with us on our blog: https://dsi.sva.edu//welcoming-out-labs-our-spring-21-des/

Our Fast Track students have ended the course strong with their end-of-semester presentations! Over the last few months, the four projects run by Kehan Zhang, Nishita Chheda, Esther Yip, Bridget Qian and Shuyu Fang have seen substantial growth. Read more about their progress on our blog: https://dsi.sva.edu/blog/2020//fall-2020-fast-track-update/

As 2020 comes to a close, we look back at this year of uncertainty, fear, and change faced globally and take a deep breath for what’s to come. We are incredibly proud of DSI students and faculty who have come together this year from all corners of the world with resilience and courage, forging pathways where there were none to support our communities. Creative leaders make their own opportunities. So, why wait? Apply now and be the difference the world needs. https://dsi.sva.edu/apply/

Design the Future. Apply before the January 15 priority deadline.

SVA invites all prospective graduate students to attend the 2020 Graduate Admissions Alumni Panel on October 28th. Gain insight into what it’s like to be a graduate student here, and how to make the most of the Manhattan campus experience. Our 2016 Alum Rodrigo Muñoz will be be representing DSI during the panel! Note that attendees will receive an $80 application fee waiver if they apply for Summer 2021 or Fall 2021 admission. Register here: https://sva.zoom.us/webi/register/WN_kLHyY33KTrmcnd2QUxZNUA

Join MFA Design for Social Innovation for a Virtual Open House on November 13th & 20th to discuss the program with faculty, students, and alumni. At DSI, we use design to explore the social conditions to increase creativity, equity, social justice, greater resilience, and a healthy connection to nature through a multitude of channels. There will be two sessions that will allow us to welcome potential students from different countries and time zones. Register to learn about the work we do here, and see what an MFA in Design for Social Innovation can do for you: ibit.ly/rSMl #socialinnovation #socialgood #socialdesign #socialimpact

DSI will be participating in National Portfolio Day (https://nationalportfolioday.org/) on October 17th, 25th, 31st and November 22nd! If you’re considering applying to DSI and want some to receive some personalized advice, sign up for a portfolio review slot with our Director of Operations, Chessa Cahill. This year, all events will be taking place online and are completely free. On the registration page you will be asked to upload your portfolio, which you can do up to the day of your participation. If none of the available dates work for you, or just want to learn more about the program before submitting a portfolio, please feel free to schedule a session with Chessa individually on her Calendly: https://calendly.com/ccahill1

Today we officially welcomed our designers in residence Liz Jackson & Alex Haagaard of https://www.disabledlist.org/ and got a sneak peak of what's ahead. We're so excited for a semester of learning and unlearning together. Welcome to DSI!! Learn more about Liz and Alex on our blog: https://dsi.sva.edu//welcoming-liz-jackson-and-alex-haaga/

We've added two more faculty members to our fall 2020 lineup! Our own Grace Kwon ('20) and design strategist Sasha Charlemagne will be co-teaching Metrics and Data Visualization to second years this semester. Check out their bios on our blog: https://dsi.sva.edu//welcoming-new-faculty-part-2-fall-20/

This week marks the beginning of orientation at DSI, and we're so excited to reconnect with second years and get to know our new cohort. Starting tomorrow, we'll be featuring a new student a day as part of welcoming them to the program. Here's to the start of a great new year!

We’d like to extend an official welcome to two of our new faculty members: Sloan Leo & Sahar Ghaheri! Both will be joining our team as Thesis Advisors for our second year students. Check out their bios on our blog: https://dsi.sva.edu//2/09/welcoming-new-faculty-fall-2020/

Applications for Fall 2021 are officially OPEN! Our MFA candidates are tackling challenging issues faced by communities in government, sustainability, education, health, art and culture, gender, equity, and immigration, to name a few. If these are issues that interest you, we want you here: learning, growing, and innovating with us. Get started on your application at https://dsi.sva.edu/apply/ today!

Though tech likely isn’t the first thought that comes to mind when you think of social innovation, it’s increasing pervasiveness in our daily lives means that it is a field that really needs social designers and human-centered thinkers. Read more about Sandy Guberti Ng's ('18) journey in tech after graduating from DSI on our blog: https://dsi.sva.edu//sandy-guberti-ng-on-innovating-data-/

Good Measure and The Great Discontent have relaunched Homebodies: a conversation series that explores the nuance of hope-fueled creativity. This Friday, 8/28, our own Miya Osaki will be sharing her skills and experiences in using interaction design, human-centered research, storytelling, and behavior design to improve experiences and outcomes and enable patients to better improve their health, wellbeing, care, and quality of life. Learn more and register to attend here: https://zmurl.com/06homebodies

As part of her internship with the Artists' Literacies Institute, rising second year Janvi Ghatalia ('21) has been working on "The Grief Deck": an artist-generated toolkit for processing loss, even in isolation, in the age of the COVID-19 pandemic. On August 17th, Janvi and her team launched a kickstarter campaign to help bring this project to life. Going forward, she will work on gameplay UX design and implementation of the project. Pledge your support or submit a grieving story or artwork here: https://www.kickstarter.com//grief-deck-an-art/description

When we last checked in with 2014 Alum Tanya Bhandari, she was working on a series of global ventures as part of UNICEF’S Office of Innovation in NYC. Now, she’s tackling a series of projects involving adolescent health and economic opportunity with Youth Development Labs: a non-profit design consultancy at the intersection of design, data, and youth-driven programming. Read more about her work on our blog: https://dsi.sva.edu//tanya-bhandari-co-designing-for-adol/ Images provided by: Yagazie Emezi/Getty Images/Images of Empowerment. #imagesofempowerment

We are very excited to announce our designers in residence for the Fall 2020 semester: Liz Jackson and Alex Haagaard of The Disabled List! Both have been working with SVA as instructors at MFA Products of Design, and we are looking forward to fostering a lasting collaboration with DSI moving forward. The duo took the time to answer some questions about their unprofessional experiences and provided a look into how they plan to work with our students to dismantle and rebuild societal expectations of accessibility and equity in design. Read more on our blog! https://dsi.sva.edu//welcoming-liz-jackson-and-alex-haaga/