Discussion Session Submission Information

Call for panel discussion sessions (closed)

The Design Frontier invites proposals for several hour-long panel-led discussion sessions to be held throughout the conference. The topics listed below are not an exclusive list, but meant to trigger ideas and encourage submissions on a broad range of issues that pertain to the conference theme.

In a panel discussion 3-4 authors will present 5 minute papers that touch on a related issue of Design Education or Pedagogy. The remaining time will be left open for panel-led discussion of the issue.

Panel discussion session topics

  1. The Lone Design Educator
    Many small design programs are run by a single design educator. This session will share experiences and propose strategies for keeping the student experience fresh, networking with local or regional professionals to help expand course content, and creating potential avenues towards professional practice.
  2. Community Colleges
    Many two-year pre-professional programs aspire to entry-level proficiency in two years. Is this possible? What partnerships can be forged between community colleges and neighboring 4-year programs? Because the 2-year program strives to produce entry-level proficiency, many students have difficulty transferring to other undergraduate programs to continue their education. What kind of curriculum can aid those students who wish to continue their studies? Is an alternate educational track necessary for students that plan to continue in a 4-year program?
  3. Tenure and Promotion
    Smaller programs often lack the critical mass of practice-based educators to inform tenure committees on design-focused analogues to publishing, research and service. Do you have strategies to share for defining research/professional practice? How do you define criteria for teaching and service? When can mentoring be productive or beneficial?
  4. Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration
    In smaller programs, there are many opportunities to collaborate with other disciplines within the institution, and with local non-profit, or commercial organizations. How can these cross-disciplinary collaborations enhance the experience of the design student? How do we define the role of graphic design students in such projects? Can design students successfully collaborate with local organizations to create a successful peer-to-peer relationship.
  5. Design Community
    Many small programs operate without a major in Graphic Design or have only a few students. How can faculty provide opportunities for small groups of design-focused students to build a design community within the larger Fine Arts community? How can student communities become part of larger discussions about design?
  6. Design Curriculum for High Schools
    What should a successful High-School Design program cover? How should Magnet or Charter schools approach Design instruction? How can Art Educators without Graphic Design training adopt Design-based approaches to instruction? What aspects of Design Curricula can be approached successfully at the high-school level? Should High School programs focus solely on software or technical proficiency or are there opportunities to approach more advanced concepts?
  7. Wild Card!
    Talk to us! Is there an issue that you feel needs more discussion, an issue that you feel needs more attention?
  8. Panel discussion session proposal format procedure

The panel organizer should submit a 250-500 word proposal outlining the panel topic, and include an abstract for each of the panelists, 250 words maximum, describing each panelist's experience and approach to the topic.

Please follow this format very carefully.

Panel discussion proposal deadline: September 29, 2006

Panel discussion acceptance email notification: October 30, 2006

Peer review readers for panel discussion proposals

Questions regarding Panel Discussion Session Application procedure may be sent directly to Lisa Abendroth at abendrot@mscd.edu