Teaching
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The classroom should be a communal space where the lines between teacher, student, amateur and expert are blurred so vulnerability and knowledge can flow in all directions. The teacher is a guide, but each student is a well of knowledge full of lived experience in a world saturated in visual communication. If encouraged, observation of this lived experience creates an inclusive and collaborative classroom where life can inform design and vice versa.
Excellent design teaching will address the whole, complete student, not just the part of them interested in visual communication. Since design cannot be separated from our daily lives, our daily lives will not be separated from the design classroom. Educating within the context of the real world opposed to the potential vacuum of an institution can reveal connections outside of design, creating and reinforcing stronger ties between theory and practice.
While the current field of design has industry standard software, practicing ways of thinking and modes of working instead of software proficiency fosters creative problem-solving skills that can be used and adapted to a variety of complex issues. These skills cannot be rendered useless by software updates, or the unexpected evolution of workplace demands.
Design education needs to equip students with the ability to observe the world around them, identify problems, brainstorm possible ideas, collaborate with others to iterate on those ideas to form a solution and then articulate their findings. Successful articulation will make sense to people outside the classroom as well as inside, so teaching must include helping students find their voice when talking about design. Students should leave our program feeling encouraged to ask hard questions, make discoveries and investigate their world using the practical skills and techniques they learned in class.
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EDUCATION
2019
Master of Fine Arts
University of Iowa | Iowa City, IA
2016
Bachelor of Fine Arts
Concordia University, Nebraska | Seward, NE
EXPERIENCE
2023-Present
Lecturer
University of Wisconsin-Madison | Madison, WI
Classes: Basic Graphic Design, Graphic Design for Posters, Graphic Design for Publications
2021-Present
Adjunct Instructor
Madison Area Technical College | Madison, WI
Classes: Introduction to Computer Graphics, Design Fundamentals
2022-2023
Art Director
Hiebing | Madison, WI
2021-2022
Graphic Designer
Church Media Squad | Sun Prairie, WI
2017-2021
Visual Arts Leader
Veritas Church | Iowa City, IA
2017-2019
Instructor of Record
University of Iowa | Iowa City, IA
Classes: Graphic Design I and Elements of Graphic Design
2015-2016
Marxhausen Gallery Assistant
Concordia University, Nebraska | Seward, NE
HONORS & AWARDS
2016
Iowa Arts Fellowship
University of Iowa | Iowa City, IA
2016
Outstanding Graduate in Art
Concordia University, Nebraska | Seward, NE
PUBLICATIONS
2019
GRAAPHS: Graphic Representations of Abstract and Altruistic Phenomenological Hymns and Stories
University of Iowa | Iowa City, IA
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2020
GRAAPHS: Graphic Representations of Abstract and Altruistic Phenomenological Hymns and Stories (Part II)
Morris Gallery of Contemporary Art, Missouri Valley College | Marshall, MI
2019
Becoming
Main Floor Gallery, M.C. Ginsberg | Iowa City, IA
2019
GRAAPHS: Graphic Representations of Abstract and Altruistic Phenomenological Hymns and Stories
Second Floor Gallery, Visual Arts Building , University of Iowa | Iowa City, IA
2018
Threee, TTwooo, Ooonnneee
Second Floor Gallery, Visual Arts Building, University of Iowa | Iowa City, IA
2017
We Need to Talk
Drewelowe Gallery, Visual Arts Building, University of Iowa | Iowa City, IA
2016
Type & Image
Marxhausen Gallery, Concordia University, Nebraska | Seward, NE
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2019
If One of You Fails, You All Fail
Levitt Gallery, Art Building West , University of Iowa | Iowa City, IA
2018
Can Graphic Design Save the World?
Gallery E148, Visual Arts Building, University of Iowa | Iowa City, IA
2018
Exempli Gratia (e.g.)
Levitt Gallery, Art Building West, University of Iowa | Iowa City, IA
SOFTWARE, MACHINES & TOOLS
Adobe CC (Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, After Effects, Acrobat)
Microsoft Office (Teams, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneDrive)
Blackboard, Slack, ClickUp, Hive, Asana and Trello
Projectors, scanners and printers (large format and home office)
Pencil, paper, scissors and glue
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As a cultural arbiter of knowledge and authority, educational institutions are responsible for transparently working to continually foster a welcoming learning and working environment for every student, staff and faculty member. Diverse education systems, classrooms and curriculum are an accurate reflection of our society.
Inclusive teaching involves examining the methods we use to teach each student, where we get our pedagogical material, which persons we highlight in design history, the material we personally consume and how we engage in our own creative research. Our efforts cannot be limited to the four walls of the classroom because–much like the classroom–we are not one dimensional. We must be honest about how our design work, political views, social behavior, environmental impact and personal decisions affect the students in our classrooms.
Equity in the design classroom means each student should be empowered to use their genuine voice. Equipping students with the ability to articulate their ideas, emotions and unique perspectives and encouraging them to express it in their own way should be the goal of our design programs. If our curriculum produces a graduating class with same portfolio year after year, it has not equipped our students but rather forced a generic mold on unique individuals.
If a student does not see themselves represented in our class materials, design history or work examples, how will they be able to envision themselves in the future of design? We are responsible for preparing and empowering the next generation of visual communicators, graphic designers, creative directors, animators, web designers, advertisers, typographers and content creators. Therefore, our learning environments need to create room for the next generation in its entirety, not just the parts that look like the previous generation or are easy to transpose.