This is a re-post of a blog written by MASD Faculty Anita Nowak for her blog series. Thank you Anita! Over the past few months, our society’s empathy deficit has been laid bare – and it’s staggering. The only silver lining is that Spring 2020 unleashed unprecedented introspection about important issues like systemic racism, food →

For several years now, I have had the wonderful opportunity to teach a 4-day immersive short-course called BioEmpathy in Kenya (and once in India) for the Amani Institute. As much as I’m there to teach, I always walk away incredibly enriched and inspired by the experience and the Amani team and Fellows.  With the pandemic, →

The coronavirus pandemic is, or will be, tragic for some, devastating for many, and disruptive for everyone. Our natural reaction to those who are suffering is sympathy. When someone sends their “thoughts and prayers” they are expressing sympathy.  Sympathy is different from empathy. Sympathy is when we feel sorry for someone else’s misfortune, even if →

Jeremy Faludi, Ph.D., LEED AP BD+C, is a sustainable design strategist. He was an assistant professor at Dartmouth College and has taught green product design at Stanford and elsewhere. He has contributed to six books on sustainable design, including Worldchanging: A User’s Guide for the 21st Century, and co-authored the Autodesk Sustainability Workshop.  He prototyped the first version of AskNature.org for the Biomimicry →

After pursuing one of her BHAGs, former and founding Director of our MA in Sustainable Design program Cindy Gilbert is now Senior Project Officer with VentureWell. Congratulations, Cindy! One of her upcoming projects: VentureWell is offering the interactive + hands-on workshop Green LaunchPad Educators Workshop this fall (Oct 16+17) in Boston, MA to train faculty →

This is one of a series of interviews by students, alumni, and faculty from MCAD’s MA in Sustainable Design program with practitioners from the Sustainable Brands community, on a variety of ways organizations can, and are, Redesigning the Good Life.  This post is a copy of the interview posted by Sustainable Brands.   White’s work highlights actionable ways practitioners →

There are several interrelated themes that are woven throughout our MA in Sustainable Design program, including systems thinking, biomimicry, and innovation. Underlying everything we do is, of course, sustainability and design, both of which require leadership and which, in turn, require empathy. Arguably, “design thinking” and “human centered design” are applied empathy.  Leading creatives and →

Not many of us set BHAG’s (“Big Hairy Audacious Goals”) and even fewer of us act on those that we do set, but Cindy Gilbert, former and founding Director of the MA in Sustainable Design program has done both.   Back in January, Cindy announced that she was leaving her post as Director to pursue →

Our faculty are an amazing and diverse group. Like Sustainable Design itself, they are multi-faceted and trans-disciplinary, passionate and pioneering, curious and creative.   Tim McGee is no exception.  His day job is is the Biophilic Design Manager at the International Living Future Institute (ILFI), where he brings his career exploring the interface between biology →

Jeremy Faludi, Ph.D., LEED AP BD+C, has devoted his career to driving the leading edge of sustainable design and sustainable design education.  In addition to being an adjunct faculty with MCAD’s MA in Sustainable Design program, he is an assistant professor at Dartmouth College and has taught green product design at Stanford and elsewhere.  He has contributed to →