To close out our thesis intensive series for the semester, thesis advisors Sahar Ghaheri and Mari Nakano held two final workshops on prototyping and hosting effective remote meetings, respectively. In design, and especially social design, prototyping is an important part of the design-thinking and implementation process. Sahar explains that it is an effective way of…
Blog
Thesis
Thesis Intensives: Shifting Mental Models
As we draw closer to our Spring ‘21 thesis show, our faculty is continuing last fall’s Thesis Intensive series. Our second years started this semester’s set with Jaimie Cloud–instructor of Environmental Ethics–facilitating a workshop on shifting mental models. This intensive focused around the idea of mental models of unsustainability, which are categories of thinking that…
Thesis Intensives: Facilitation 101
As an expert in community design and leadership, Thesis Advisor Sloan Leo added an invaluable workshop to our thesis intensive series: Facilitation 101. A core practice of social design, this session reframed common expectations of facilitation by highlighting practices to avoid and asking students to recenter the core values and purpose of facilitation in a…
Why DSI? Mari Nakano. That’s Why.
This year, our amazing group of thesis advisors has been led by Mari Nakano, who joined the DSI team in 2018. What is design for social innovation to you? For me, design for social innovation means using design tools and strategies for the purposes of creating a resilient planet, where all people can share power…
Thesis Intensives: Getting Your Work Out There
With years of experience in fundraising and expanding partnerships, Thesis Advisor Kara Meyer knows a thing or two about publicizing and growing a project. In our latest thesis intensive–Getting Your Work Out There–Kara walked our students through some tips and tricks on effective PR strategies for their blossoming thesis projects. Using Kara’s work at +POOL–the…
Save The Date! Thesis 2021
We are thrilled to announce that this year’s annual Thesis Show will mark a long-awaited return to SVA! Our students have developed ground-breaking projects over the course of the year, and will be presenting them live at SVA Theatre’s Beatrice Auditorium on Thursday, May 6 beginning at 11:30AM. Our students abroad will be featured during…
The 2017 Thesis Show
This past Monday, May 1st, people watched from the auditorium at the SVA Theater and around the world as the newest graduates presented their thesis projects. After over a year of research, prototyping, refining, pivoting, research, prototyping, refining, breakthroughs, setbacks, insights, long days spent working with advisors, countless hours of rehearsing and sleepless nights, they…
A Quick Guide (and a New App) to the Latest Social Innovations
The students of DSI illustrated the promise of design for social innovation in their presentations. Here’s a closer look at four of the projects with descriptions by the designers themselves, as well as a new app that features the work of all of this year's graduating DSI students.
‘Boiling Down’ Project Fights Bullying Through the Power of Cooking
Over the next few weeks, we will be highlighting some of the many outstanding projects by 2016 Alumni Scholarship Award winners. First up is MFA Design for Social Innovation student Ivan Boscariol on his Boiling Down program, which aims to reduce bullying and challenge gender norms through the power of cooking.
DSI Alum Rachel Dixon and Swar Raisinghani Present Their Thesis Projects for Implementing Impact!
Rachel Dixon and Swar Raisinghani were invited to Implementing Impact! Strategies for Creative Intervention to present their respective thesis projects as successful case studies in developing social impact. Implementing Impact! is a one-week summer intensive exploring how to launch socially innovative projects for advanced college students and creative professionals offered at SVA.
