Schools of Thoughts was a 2-1/2 day conference on graphic design education. There were 150 participants including professionals, educators and graduate students intending to teach.

The content was carefully crafted to explore and engage the many ways in which graphic design is understood. We presented the macro to the micro -- from classroom practices to the history of design education from the Bauhaus on. Our goal was to inform, inspire, and provide a wide variety of ideas about graphic design through the lenses of educators and proponents of education.

From the onset we asked questions:

When we talk about graphic design education are we all talking about the same idea and ideals of the profession?

How do programs differ in their assumptions about not only how to educate designers, but also what a professional practitioner contributes in today's social, cultural, technological and economic context?
What is the graphic designer's role?

Is the designer the form giver?

The one who brings art to commerce? The problem solver? The content provider? The one who sets the strategy?

Is design about knowing software? Being visually literate? Being an artist? Having a voice? Craft? Technology? Media? Print? Creating experiences through the use of sound, movement and interactivity?

How does education reflect and prepare students for the various ideas for practice? Are we generalists or specialists?

Our hope was that through asking these questions, a rich and provocative dialog would follow.

To begin the dialog, a Call for Abstracts was sent to graphic design educators five months before the conference. It was distributed via email nationwide along with a "Save the Date" notice of the conference.

In planning the conference weekend, a significant portion of Saturday's program was designed to include an opportunity for thirty of the approved abstracts to be presented by their authors in breakout sessions. The result was a current snapshot of graphic design education today. It provided a voice for the individual educator and an opportunity for all participants to better understand and evaluate our role in the larger community.

To continue the dialog stimulated by the breakout sessions, Sunday morning was dedicated to in-depth roundtable discussions based on the breakout session topics of the previous day. Topics included:

Interdisciplinary Models
Community/Social design
Practical Training/Professional Practice
Systems and Structures
Fundamentals
Methodology
Issues in Education
Issues in Curriculum Development
Becoming an Educator
Cross Cultural Issues

By including a large number of individual educators in the program, the conference provided a view of the community few of us had seen before. The registration fees were reasonable ($75.00) so many attendees that might otherwise be excluded for financial reasons, were able to afford to attend. By structuring the Call for Abstracts process, many design and art departments supported their representatives that were presenting papers.

Through financial support from the AIGA Education Sponsor, MeadWestvaco, we were able to invite leading educators and academics to give keynote presentations throughout the conference. They provided a broader context for the discussion of graphic design education. Speakers included:

Andrew Blauvelt
Creative Director
Walker Art Center
On: Design Education and Culture

Lorraine Wild
Practitioner
Educator, California Institute of the Arts
On: The History of Design Education

Wim De Wit
Head of Special Collections & Visual Resources and
Curator of Architectural Drawings, Getty Research Institute
On: Learning to Forget: The Educational System of the Bauhaus

Meredith Davis
Professor and the former Chair of Graphic Design, College of Design, North Carolina State University
On: Preparing the Professoriate: Designing the Learning Experience

Lucille Tenazas
Practitioner
Professor and Chair of the MFA Program in Design, California College of Arts and Crafts
On: Reflections on Education

We anticipated a large attendee turnout from the Western Region of the US. Our surprise was the number of East Coast and Southern Region attendees. A few came from outside the US, including England, Canada and Mexico. This added a level of diversity that exceeded our expectations.

Holding the conference it the heart of UCLA's Westwood Village was certainly a draw for many. It provided all that a sunny Southern California weekend promises. Hotels, conference venues, restaurants and shops were all within walking distance. The festive backdrop of the location gave attendees the chance to spend some informal, social time together. It also gave our host school, UCLA Extension, an opportunity to showcase its facility.

The varied backgrounds and experiences of the conference organizing committee members were resonant with the conference theme.

Petrula Vrontikis, Art Center College of Design
Louise Sandhaus, California Institute of the Arts
Denise Gonzales Crisp, North Carolina State University
Denise Weyhrich, Chapman University
Melissa Niederhelman, (formerly) Arizona State University
Candice Lopez, San Diego City College
Archie Boston, California State University, Long Beach

Louise Sandhaus and Denise Gonzales Crisp carefully crafted the conference content and served as liaisons to our keynote speakers. Denise Gonzales Crisp designed our conference publicity materials. Louise organized the conference schedule, the moderators and presenters. Eager volunteers from CalArts helped prepare materials beforehand, provided on-site support and created an online follow-up document. Archie Boston headed the Peer Review Jury in evaluating abstracts for consideration. Denise Weyhrich, Melissa Niederhelman and Candice Lopez provided ongoing advice and support during the planning stages and also assisted in various aspects of the conference weekend.

A follow-up note from one of our industry's finest practitioner/educator succinctly sums up the conference:

"...a great mix of information, camaraderie, plus a modicum of controversy."
-Doyald Young

It was important that this conference not be an end in itself, but a beginning to an ongoing connection between schools, educators and the graphic design community. I am hopeful that the efforts of the AIGA, though the creation of AIGA Educator Series, will continue to benefit the graphic design education community.

Petrula Vrontikis
Conference Chair
Schools of Thoughts
pv@35k.com