The Secret

A popular book and movie, The Secret, claims that we are all energy, and that we can exert more positive energy and less negative energy in our lives if we choose. The new College of Design has certainly learned this secret. We have so much positive energy flowing in so many directions that it seems as if we have all been channeling that work.

One area of great positive energy involves our students. A new student and alumni board has elected officers and started planning programs to enhance our students' experience and to help our graduates make the transition into the work world. Our students have also organized and participated in weekend workshops ranging from helping the city of Cold Spring, Minnesota, envision the future of an empty factory in its downtown, to working with several nonprofits to develop housing solutions for people in need. Meanwhile student work has been on display in several venues, from an exhibition of housing designed by our students for several communities of color at the Hennepin History Museum, to a runway show of fashion lines by our clothing-design students at the McNamara Alumni Center.

Another realm of incredible energy has emerged from our faculty and staff, who have formed communities of interest in several areas. One group has focused on the relationship of design to pre-K through 12th-grade education and has been in contact with colleagues at the College of Education and Human Development and the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs about possible projects. A group has also formed around the topic of affordable housing, engaging not just faculty and staff from a few colleges, but housing providers and local politicians as well. Other communities that have formed include groups doing research on design and health, a few pursuing various forms of product design and human factors, and still others exploring the integrative potential of knowledge mapping and digital fabrication.

The intellectual energy fueling our research has also infiltrated our teaching and outreach. Several classes have taken community service to new levels, with students doing projects in places like Biloxi, Mississippi, helping the Gulf Coast rebuild after Katrina; Venice, Italy, guiding that city in giving new life to underutilized areas; and Seoul, Korea, working with clothing design faculty and students there. Closer to home, our faculty and students have been working with neighborhood groups and arts organizations, such as Juxtaposition Arts in Minneapolis's North Side, where our students have collaborated with local youth to envision ways of using the arts to reinvigorate the local community. In all cases, our students and faculty have helped bring positive energy to counter the negative conditions that have existed in places like the post-Katrina Gulf Coast or the postindustrial inner city.

Saving energy has been a goal of ours as well. Students have been working with our staff to devise ways to reduce our waste, recycle still-usable materials, and use less electricity. A public art project that involves documenting the geological origins of key materials in Rapson Hall will also be installed over the next several months. And with this greening of the college has come the possibility of our working with the University to green the campus, as we help the institution find ways to reduce its energy bills and its waste stream. A proposed library of innovative low-energy materials would reinforce those efforts by furthering our ability to help people meet the sustainability and social equity challenges ahead.

But enough of my telling you. If you want more information on all the positive energy flowing in the college, read this issue. There are no secrets.

Thomas Fisher
Professor and Dean
College of Design