Parsons School of Design Master of Arts Design Studies program (MADS) was founded in 2012. Susan Yelavich directed MADS from its proposal stage until it folded in 2018 due to low enrollment.

MADS focused on the study of design as a branch of the humanities, studying the history and practice of design within the social, cultural, and aesthetic contexts in which they were conceived and functioned, with the goal of preparing students to become active agents of social change through the development of "critical perspectives on the meanings and values embodied in objects and places." Classes were focused on encouraging students to think critically about design in order to address audiences in the realms of academia, the practicing design community, and the public, and students produced projects that integrated film, video, and other media into their work. The journal, Plot(s), was begun in 2014 by students in the first year class of MADS. The journal sought to promote design studies as a discipline and to establish new transdisciplinary approaches to creative research. After the MADS program folded, the journal continued to publish under the the auspices of Parsons' School of Art and Design History and Theory, edited by graduate students across multiple disciplines at The New School. The journal was still published as of 2021. During MADS' existence, the program maintained an active slate of symposia with invited guests from within and outside of design fields.

The course of study for MA students included classes in Parsons' School of Art and Design History and Theory, as well as other Parsons schools, social science courses through The New School for Social Research (students could also earn a concomitant Certificate in Gender and Sexuality Studies through NSSR), and The New School for Public Engagement, in subjects such as media studies, nonprofit management, and public policy.

In an oral history interview, Susan Yelavich describes her vision for the program, and her oversight over the transition from an MA to a certificate program. Ultimately the program was converted into a graduate minor, which remains as of 2022.

References

“Design Studies MA” The New School https://www.newschool.edu/parsons/ma-design-studies-research/. Accessed January 4, 2023.

Oral history transcript from interview with Susan Yelavich by Wendy Scheir. 31 January 2019. Parsons School of Design oral history program (PC.07.01.02). The New School Archives and Special Collections.

Susan Yelavich (born 1950) is a New York-based design critic and educator. Yelavich was the director of the Parsons School of Design MA in Design Studies program from 2012-2018. She holds a BA in Fine Arts and Art History from Brown University and an MFA in Painting from Cranbrook Academy of Fine Art. Before arriving at Parsons, Yelavich spent roughly twenty-five years at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, in New York. From 1995-2002 she served as the museum’s assistant director for public programs, a position with curatorial, editorial, and pedagogical components. Yelavich came to Parsons in 2004 to teach part-time in the Art and Design History and Theory (ADHT) department. From 2005-2012 she taught Global Issues, a required junior year seminar. After overseeing the Design Studies’ transition from an MA to certificate program, Yelavich formally retired in 2019. She was the 2004 recipient of the Rolland Fellowship in Design, and the 2019 Residency Fellowship at the Bogliasco Foundation. Yelavich has authored numerous books, articles, and essays on design.

References

“Design Studies MA” The New School https://www.newschool.edu/parsons/ma-design-studies-research/. Accessed January 4, 2023.

Oral history transcript from interview with Susan Yelavich by Wendy Scheir. 31 January 2019. Parsons School of Design oral history program (PC.07.01.02). The New School Archives and Special Collections.