Assistant Professor, Auburn University
Assistant Professor Benjamin Bush is a designer, mentor, and educator hailing from the woodlands of eastern Alabama. He believes in hard work, nontraditional learning environments, instilling fun into all walks of life, and building a studio culture that champions teamwork and authenticity.
He teaches sophomore and senior students at Auburn University through their design studios, foundational studies, digital prototyping, and portfolio classes. Benjamin also leads study abroad programs to Ireland and the UK and volunteers with the outdoor design conference known as SHiFT.
Career Topography: Mapping Your Path
In this interactive workshop, participants will visualize their career path, reflecting on their experiences. This includes degrees earned, positions held, influential mentors, turning points or roadblocks along the way, where they are now, and where they aspire to be. This workshop aims to find patterns and spark conversations among participants, and will be valuable for everyone from young, aspiring designers to well-established executives.
This workshop will conclude with a brief summary of ongoing research dedicated to growing diversity in industrial design by better understanding pathways into design careers. The presenters have been collecting and publishing demographic data focused specifically on industrial design educators. This work has suggested differences in how and where men and women are hired and retained in (industrial design) higher education.
Workshop outline:
International Collaborative Design Sprint
Each spring, American industrial design students team up with Irish industrial design students to complete a 24-hour design sprint. This year, the leading professors pivoted the project away from traditional product outcomes and challenged the students to forecast a future that included physical interaction points where the city and campus could better interact and grow together.
The professors agreed that this type of project surpassed the current skill sets of the young design students and elected to provide three frameworks to increase the chances of receiving strong deliverables. These frameworks are assigning local leadership, providing lectures from subject matter experts, and requiring the identification of three stakeholders.
This paper includes a case study following two groups’ final deliverables. It also questions how projects of this nature might strengthen the students’ design outcomes in the short term and expand their appreciation of applied design research in the long term.
Panel Discussion: A Classic Debate: Is Grad School Worth It?
We’ve heard it plenty of times: “nobody goes to grad school for design.” But is it true? And even if it’s not true, is going to graduate school worth it? What makes it worth it (or not?) This panel will bring together professionals with a variety of experiences to duke it out, debate-club style, with plenty of time and opportunities for audience participation. Statements will be prepared, and rebuttals will be encouraged.
Moderator: Carly Hagins, IDSA – Assistant Professor, Western Michigan University
Panelists:
The Courageous Classroom
Maybe it’s grading… or maybe it’s that high schools told our students there is only one correct answer on a test? Could it be the worksheets and information regurgitation? However you look at it—primary and secondary education has left our students with lots of baggage.
Then we throw them into collaborative projects with divergent teammates pursuing uncharted topics. And in order to uncover fresh solutions, students need to have deep conversations with absolute strangers; empathize with their way of life; and produce groundbreaking insights and solutions.
Many of us have participated with study abroad and seen how it transforms students’ lives, but this option isn’t always available. SCAD Professor Benjamin Bush, IDSA, asks, “Can we get our students to see design as a great adventure with unlimited possibilities?” He’ll discuss how he’s taking steps to change the classroom setting into a sanctuary for risk taking.
