Lecture Series and Mentorship Program
Rulon Wood (Theatre, Film and Creative Writing) – The Innovation Lab Grant and the Alan and Royanne Minskoff Foundation generously funded the Film Lecture Series. These funds were used to connect Boise State students to film industry professionals. The lecture series provides an opportunity for the general public to hear about the art and business of filmmaking.
The first speaker, Doug Campbell, who has written and directed over 50 feature films, presented to students, faculty and the public. Charlese Antoinette, a costume designer who has worked on academy-nominated films, presented to the public and students as part of the Boise International Film Festival. The industry connections greatly benefited the students and the public, which we hope will create inroads for future collaborations and internships.
Restructuring the Graphic Design I and II Curriculum
Brian Wiley (Art, Design and Visual Studies) – The COAS Innovation Lab Grant funded a redesign of the Graphic Design Studio 1 and 2 courses. This redesign created two independent introduction-level graphic design courses focused on project-based curriculum that guides students through research, planning, execution and reflection. This is opposed to what is the more common scaffolded curriculum found in most graphic design programs, which often leads to bottlenecks and other challenges for students to progress through the program efficiently.
These changes allow students to take the courses when it is most convenient for them and more easily progress through the program in pursuit of a minor, or in preparation for, application to upper-division coursework. The School of the Arts also recognizes through preliminary research that the challenges facing our program are not uncommon among other design programs, and that addressing these issues at Boise State has the potential to more broadly affect the way graphic design education is implemented at other institutions.