The Doctor of Design?

Since the focus of this class will involve developing effective research strategies to solve design problems, I thought I'd share with you this article I came across on the aiga.com website. Its an interview with Meredith Davis and given by Steven Heller about the importance of the PhD in Design. Apparently, some schools including the Illinois Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon University, and North Carolina State University have implemented doctoral programs in design. Ms. Davis happens to be the doctoral program director at NC State. I know many of you don't even want to think about getting another degree after earning your MA or MFA (myself included), but give the article a good read. Its interesting how these programs are really taking strides to implement strong research within the field of design. The goal is to add to a growing body of knowledge within design and help advance the stature of the profession. Let me reiterate that these programs focus on primarily research. UB's masters programs and even our Doctor of Communications Design tend to focus on advanced design practice. Here's the link.