Please Note: MSU MEMO is archived as a part of Mississippi State University's history. Articles may refer to situations which have changed or people who are no longer affiliated with the university.
 |
Nov. 1, 2004 Volume 29, Issue 14 |
Renamed college embraces new disciplines
Mississippi State's architecture college, established as the state's first professional architecture school in 1973, is expanding to include art and interior design.
The newly named College of Architecture, Art and Design has increased from 260 students to more than 600 students, said Dr. Peter Rabideau, vice president for academic affairs.
Art formerly was a department in the College of Arts and Sciences; interior design, a program in the School of Human Sciences.
"The new structure has been in place since July 1, and we now are pursuing appropriate new degrees through the Institutions of Higher Learning," Rabideau said.
The reorganization pulls together disciplines with a common interest in creating, said Jim West, dean of the new college.
"Faculty members share a variety of research and teaching interests, including materials exploration, environmental design and sustainability, among others," he explained. Those overlapping interests provide common ground for teaching, research and public service, he added.
With the restructuring, the College of Architecture, Art and Design becomes the only such academic unit in Mississippi and joins other progressive universities that are combining faculty with common elements of creative design, West said.
"We believe this college can establish a national reputation for excellence in the public dissemination of artistic work and serve as a significant resource for the university and the region," he said.
Currently, faculty members are developing a new curriculum for all three disciplines, with a focus on content overlap and efficient use of resources, West said. He added that new Giles Hall office space for interior design faculty and new interior design studio space in Etheredge Hall are enhancing cross-disciplinary opportunities.
"All three units are focused extensively on the applications of technology and require that undergraduate students own their own computers," he explained. "The new college offers an opportunity to move to a new technology level in the areas of high-end graphics, 3-D modeling, visualization, and other applications."
Among research centers of the college are the Carl Small Town Center, the Jackson Design Center, the Digital Research and Imaging Laboratory, and the Educational Design Institute. In addition to classroom, studio, library, and office space in Giles Hall, there is nearby Art Department space in Freeman and Briscoe halls for teaching, studios and laboratories.