The students, faculty, staff, and researchers in the Design Studies department at UW–Madison study the production, process, and impact of design. Through scholarship, analysis, curriculum, and outreach, we advocate design as an encompassing discipline central to every aspect of life. We emphasize and promote a multi-disciplinary, global approach to design, and we value connections, nationally and internationally, with other campus, community, and professional programs.
Design Studies faculty include interdisciplinary scholars associated with the arts and humanities, the social sciences, and the physical sciences. While the backgrounds and scholarship areas of the faculty are diverse, we are tied together by an interest in the relationships between humans and the objects and environments that they design and use.
We also boast within the School of Human Ecology the Center for Design and Material Culture, which is home to two galleries, one of the largest university-held textile collections in the world, material culture studies, and the school’s design thinking initiative. Center leadership includes executive director Dr. Sarah Anne Carter and faculty directors Dr. Anne Smart Martin (material culture), Dr. Marina Moskowitz (textiles), and Dr. Jung-hye Shin (design thinking).
Department Chair
Areas of Specialization
Human-centered design
- Design impact on health and wellbeing (or design evaluation)
- Design for special population (aging, poverty, children)
Design Innovation
- Design Strategy
- Design Thinking
Technology
- Visual Reality
- Emerging Technology
- Smart Building System
- Material innovations
Sustainable Design Materials and Practices
- Materials
- Building systems
Creative Practice
- Papermaking
- Textile Design
- Fashion Design
- Weaving
Historical and Cultural Studies
- Material Culture
- Design History
- Museum Studies
- Cultural and regional studies
Visualization
- Design Visualization
- Visual Communication
- Data Visualization
Design Studies News & Research
Design Studies Department Faculty
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Jennifer AngusKay Vaughan Innovation Fellow; Professor
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Sarah Anne CarterAssociate Professor; Executive Director, Center for Design & Material Culture
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Wei DongVilas Distinguished Achievement Professor
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Marianne FairbanksAssociate Professor
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Brooke GodfreyTeaching Faculty
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Erin HamiltonAssistant Professor
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Mary HarkProfessor
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Elizabeth Hooper-LaneTeaching Faculty
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Marina MoskowitzLynn and Gary Mecklenburg Chair in Textiles, Material Culture & Design, Professor
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Kevin PontoAssociate Professor
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Lesley SagerTeaching Faculty
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Majid SarmadiRothermel Bascom Professor
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Jung-hye ShinDesign Studies Chair, Interior Architecture Program Coordinator, Professor, Faculty Director of Design Thinking
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Uchita VaidAssistant Professor
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Trudy WattAcademic Director, Master of Science in Design and Innovation