Design Studies ignites
intellectual curiosity and
fosters human connection.
At Boston College, design is not just a set of creative tools, but a transformative educational approach that fosters these essential skills while nurturing personal growth.
Our Approach
We champion hands-on, experiential learning where students actively engage in the process of discovery, innovation, and creation in and out of the classroom. By centering learning around students’ unique needs and experiences, we cultivate not only sharp analytical minds but also deep empathy, resilience, and the creative confidence needed to tackle real-world challenges.
Skills & Growth
Design Studies fosters innovative solutions and fundamentally shapes how students think, collaborate, and approach challenges–preparing them for a future that demands creativity and adaptability. We do this through established design thinking processes and tools:
Curriculum
Through a blend of required core courses and approved electives from across the university, students learn to identify unmet needs, frame complex problems, and research diverse contexts.
Foundation
Foundation
- UNAS 1025 / ARTS1125 Innovation through Design Thinking
- ENGR 1026 Innovation Through Engineering Design
- ENGR 1801 Making the Modern World: Design, Ethics & Engineering
- UNAS / ARTS 2300 Interaction Design
- UNAS 2301 Design Research Methods and Implementation
Intermediate
Intermediate
- ENGR 1101 Introduction to Human Centered Engineering
- UNAS 2301 Design Research Methods and Implementation
- UNAS 2205 Information and Communication Design
- UNAS / ARTS 2300 Interaction Design
Advanced
Advanced
Advanced level courses are project-based, functionally serving as a capstone for the minor. When possible, the Advanced-level course should be taken last in the course sequence, and they are registered by instructor permission.
- UNAS 4301 Applied Design for the Common Good
- UNAS 3309 Advanced Visual Storytelling and Information Design
- UNAS 4302 Design Thinking and Implementation Science Project
Electives
Electives
Elective courses span departments across the university, enabling students to construct their unique course path through design-driven courses.
- UNCP 4604 Ethical Design for Social Impact
- FORM 6150/CSCI2265 Tech Tools for Playful Learning
- UNAS 3307 Design for Impact
- ARTS / BSLW 2207 Urban Design for Complexity and Sustainability
- BSLW 2208 / ECON 1208: Urban Action Lab
- ARTS 2310 Sustainable Futures by Design (study abroad, ARTS Core)
- ARTS 1156 Imagemaking with Photoshop and Illustrator
- ARTS 2252 Architectural Design 1 (only offered in fall semester)
- ARTS 2250 Graphic Design 1 (ARTS 1156 pre-req)
- ARTS 3335 Designing Space: Rhino 3-D (ARTS 1156 pre-req)
- MGMT 2143 Idea Work: Making Things That Matter
- MGMT 2144 Design-Driven Innovation Consulting
- MGMT2139 Social Impact and Entrepreneurship
Apply Now
Hear from the Students
Shaping the Collective
Hear from the
Students Shaping
the Collective
“I’m a double major between studio art and engineering, [but] my design realm never really ventured into asking why things are done. This experience was an expansion of skills I was previously using.”
“[Having] no previous experience with design, I’ve learned to be a lot more open-minded about what I can do. I learned a lot about myself, [especially] how I can express myself in ways I didn’t know before.”
“Before this program, design was just something that lived in art museums. The biggest takeaway for me is that design is something that is living and in everything we do and interact with.”
Hear from the Students
Shaping the Collective
Hear from the
Students Shaping
the Collective
“My involvement in the BC Design Commons Collective has shaped me not just as a designer, but as a person. As someone with a science background, I was nervous to engage with design at first, but my mentors were there to reassure me along the way.”
Course Faculty
Sunand Bhattacharya is the Associate Vice Provost for Design and Innovation Strategies.
His office is tasked to help build a future-forward culture of collaborative research and innovation across Boston College using design-driven methodologies. This includes management of design thinking projects, “making” at BC and other education-related endeavors including curriculum research and development for new academic programs and campus initiatives.
Design for social impact, industrial design
Carissa Henriques is a designer and maker whose work involves place and placemaking, expressive/experimental typography, and experience design.
Her work delves into design’s social role, including its ability to foster inclusive communities through collaborative and interdisciplinary approaches to making and storytelling.
Her current research interest involves urban palimpsests and the way the creation, history, and layering of visible vernacular impact linguistic landscapes.
Democratic design, design for social impact
henrica@bc.edu
See what's shaping
the Design Commons
Hear about upcoming DCC events, follow student journeys, and catch the conversations shaping the collective.
