Program Total Credits: 60
Two-year, 60-Credit Curriculum
The two-year, 60-credit curriculum (for students holding a bachelor’s degree in an art or design field or equivalent) consists of studio, methods, and seminar courses. The curriculum is project-based, which means that each semester, course content is integrated around studio-based projects.
Because design is a collaborative profession, most studio projects will be team-based. During the first and third semesters of study, first-year students will work with second-year students with an MID industry partner in a shared studio. Semester two is more individually oriented. The final semester of the two-year program is devoted to a master’s thesis in which the candidate will work more independently with a group of internal faculty and/or outside professionals to develop a thesis project that must advance the candidate’s chosen field of study.
Three-year, 78-Credit Curriculum
The three-year, 78-credit curriculum (for students from disciplines other than art and design) provides a prerequisite year of basic design skills, concepts, and competencies with six credits of graduate coursework that will prepare students to enter the two-year MID program.
Like the program itself, the faculty represents a wide range of approaches to the practice of design. This means that students have access to currently practicing design professionals with backgrounds in fields ranging from architecture, graphic design, cultural anthropology, and psychology, to industrial systems, and environmental design. The Industrial Design Department thus offers a unique core faculty group who share a common philosophy and commitment to the design process.
