Be a thinker for progress

Major in Design at UVM

The Community Centered Design Major is driven by an overarching question:

“How can we design for a better tomorrow?”

The Community-Centered Design major helps students learn about creative collaboration and design processes by which we understand complex issues and develop, implement, and share new ideas.

Focused on sustainable and responsible solutions for real-world communities, this program places equal emphasis on theory, critical thinking, reflection, creativity, empathy, and working effectively with others, including community members and professionals in different fields.

Students customize their education by picking a concentration in Applied Design or Relational Design. Upon graduation, Community-Centered Design graduates are design-process experts ready to create a better tomorrow—a resilient and responsible tomorrow—together with local and global communities.

The Community-Centered Design major builds students' design skills grounded in theory and critical thinking to create solutions that contribute to community resilience and positive change.  This applied major teaches and empowers students to understand complex issues and develop, communicate, and implement ideas to design for a better tomorrow. Students learn creative collaboration and design processes for visual communication, material products and landscapes, policy, systems, and/or experiences that meet the needs or solve problems faced by a person, group, organization, or community.

View Community-Centered Design B.S. Requirements in Catalogue

Concentrations

The Applied Design concentration emphasizes design processes needed to create tangible output; built or material products; simulations, interfaces or experiences that address the needs of the user; a person or a community. Tracks include (a) Communication Design, and (b) Green Design

The Relational Design concentration emphasizes design processes related to understanding and interacting with stakeholders, and creating within the complex relationships among people, across communities, and within systems. Tracks include (a) Community Resilience, Advocacy & Social Change and (b) Project Leadership, Management & Planning.

Careers

  • Graphic Designer
  • Community Designer
  • Transportation Planner
  • Media and Publication Design
  • Community Resilience Consultant
  • City Manager / Town Planner
  • Project Leadership & Management

Related Information

Minors

  • Applied Design
  • Community Entrepreneurship
  • Public Communication
  • Green Building and Community Design
  • Community and International Development

 

Similar Majors

  • Public Communication
  • Community and International Development
  • Community Entrepreneurship