August 9, 2005

TROY design professors stress hybridization of students

TROY – Troy University ’s art and design department is transcending the traditional notions of higher education by preparing a new breed of learner in graphic design, and being internationally recognized in the process.

Dr. Jerry Johnson, chairman of the Department of Art and Design, and Ed Noriega, professor of art and design, recently presented their research in cross-disciplinary and business-centric design training at the International Association of Inter-Cultural Communication Studies in Taipei , Taiwan .

Through the department’s Design, Technology and Innovation program – known as “<<dti>>” – TROY art and design students are required to hybridize their studies, taking courses not just in painting, drawing and traditional arts and design courses, but in disciplines outside fine arts such as marketing, business administration, information systems and journalism.

“Students can ‘buffet-style’ select alternative disciplines to synthesize with their design studies. The success of this approach to design education has been both controversial and hugely success,” Johnson said. “This new breed of design student is bringing economic development to a rural region in Alabama by using design as a catalyst for building business and entrepreneurial growth.”

But the pair’s travels didn’t only include presenting research, it allowed them to continue research in China , an area from which Johnson and Noriega are seeing an increase in students.

“I remain impressed with the eagerness of these Chinese students to embrace and adapt to foreign cultures and languages in order to bring it back home and use it to compete in the global market,” Noriega said. “There seemed to be a cumulative consensus that each student felt that their achievements were not exclusively for them, but also for the advancement of their country and culture.”

As part of their research into China ’s rapidly expanding market economy and the vast growth of a Chinese middle class, Johnson was able to draw some conclusions about the global economy and about his department’s teaching methods.

“There are literally hundreds of millions of Asians throughout China , India and beyond that are absolutely impassioned with their new-found hope to enter the world marketplace. Their hunger to succeed is impressive and, in many ways, threatening,” he said. “It’s time for me to not only learn more about Asian culture and work ethic, but also to make my American students more aware of the rising economic powers on the other side of the world … they need an academic preparation that leads them to a high degree of marketability not just in America, but around the globe.”