In September 2016 the graphic design faculty members of both the VCUQatar and Richmond campuses began a year-long collaboration to redesign the graphic design curriculum for implementation on both campuses. The newly formed group of 13 faculty members are being co-lead by Peter Martin, the Interim Chair in Qatar and David Shields, the Chair in Richmond. The intention of this curricular redesign is to create an innovative framework that supports a diverse set of learning platforms and processes. The curriculum framework aims to contextualize graphic design education within current and emerging professional, cultural, and technological practices, and to accommodate the contextual distinctions and commonalities between Doha and Richmond. The is initiative is being approached as a collaborative research process between the faculty members of the two campuses with the aspiration of leveraging this unique mission of “one curriculum / two campuses” as a potential platform for innovation in graphic design pedagogy. In the process of performing scholarly inquiry on the process, the team submitted the required university curriculum committee paperwork in early Fall 2018.

Working on the curriculum has been an extremely intense and rewarding process. However, faculty from both campuses have had to contribute a significant portion of their personal time to ensure that the curriculum redesign process remains on track. This includes a trip to Richmond by VCUQatar faculty (October 2017) and a trip to Qatar by VCU-Richmond faculty as well as numerous meetings, discussions and participation.

The New Curriculum is Here!

Now here we are almost two years later -after having completed the proposal for the new curriculum, waited for its approval- we are now getting ready to actually implement it! Its an exciting step in the history of the Graphic Design department at VCUarts Qatar. Not only have we collaborated with the GDES department in Richmond to create this curriculum together, but we believe it is cutting edge and truly reflects the dynamic world we live in today!

VCU Graphic Design Department Manifesto

We are….

● Collaborators, not competitors, narcissistic, or solipsistic

● Problem seekers, not problem-solvers

● Find things, not fix things

● Authors, not editors

● Fluid, not rigid

● Creative minds, not software jockeys

● Open towards all tech, not bias particular tech

● Inclusive and empowering, not colonialist, orientalist, sexist, racist, agist, xenophobic

● Against traditionalism

● Believers in human enrichment, not design services

● Self determining, not prescriptive

● Capitalism is not a core motivator

● We focus on impact