The Impact of Climate Change in young Adults’ Mental Health
1:30 – 2:00 P.M.
Estefania Ciliotta, Miso Kim, Michael Arnold Mages , Susan Mello, (Sara Jensen Carr)
This research project is seeking to understand attitudes in young adults (18-24) regarding climate change and how it affects mental health and health behaviors. We hypothesize that the environmental risk wrought by climate change and the national conversation on sustainability likely leads to a spectrum of beliefs, behaviors, and values regarding personal agency and resilience, which we are loosely defining as climate nihilism, climate ambivalence, and climate hope. Design probes were developed to explore connections between university students’ climate change attitudes and their health during the first phase of this research. Thematic analysis of probes (replete with elicitive drawing, etched stone, mapping, and writing activities) revealed a rich spectrum of climate change perceptions, eco-emotions, and key areas of impact.
Design For Empowered Patientship: Mapping the Boston Healthcare Ecosystem
2:00 – 2:30 P.M.
Estefania Ciliotta, Paolo Ciuccarelli, Miso Kim, Stefano Maffei, Michael Arnold Mages
This research team is mapping the healthcare ecosystems of Boston and Milan, exploring the co-design and co-production processes that contain evidence of patient-driven innovation. The project observes and maps different scenarios in which design plays a role in the interdisciplinary innovation process, mapping experiences and practices of products-services, technologies, organizational processes, initiatives, public programs or actions, and policies—with the goal of pinpointing and connecting this emergent knowledge to the actors’ system that produced them. The mapping of the Boston healthcare ecosystem will be compared with Milano’s to clarify the nature of the empowered patientship and identify opportunities for strategic cross-connections and research initiatives through interdisciplinary collaborations and partnerships. The project aims to promote a cure to care cultural, pragmatic, and interdisciplinary transition in healthcare systems; nurturing a patient-centric development of new products-services to provide more agency and choices to patients and promote health equity and inclusion (meaning impact on individual satisfaction and community welfare).
Uncovering: MFA Students’ Thesis Exhibition
5:30 – 7:30 P.M.
“Uncovering” is the act of removing a barrier and revealing what was previously unknown; exposing what was formerly hidden from view. It is an act driven by curiosity and can lead to an enhanced understanding of traditionally shrouded topics. In the 2022 MFA Thesis Exhibition, we use uncovering as a means to share our explorations into areas that we found meaningful, yet commonly overlooked. What happens when we seek to understand the elements of our lives that often remain covered, unnoticed, and unknown? Design is intelligence made visible. — Alina Wheeler, author
Liz Kantak, MFA Information Design and Visualization
An Exploration of Active Play: from infancy to adolescence and beyond
In the United States of America, active play is a fundamental aspect of many early childhood experiences. Beginning with the development of the most basic motor skills as infants, young children go on to utilize play as a mechanism for developing a wide array of skills that set them up for a lifetime of activity. The act of play provides a unique outlet for children to learn how to cultivate social skills, continue to advance their motor skills, and build an overall foundation for lifelong physical literacy. Despite being a pillar of early childhood development, playing is often brushed aside as children age into adolescence. This exhibition will showcase the various stages of human development, and frame the overall importance of playing in the lives of people.
“Play is the foundation of learning, creativity, self-expression, and constructive problem-solving.” Susan Linn
Qinzhe Chen, MFA Experience Design
City Impressions: belonging and living in Boston
Do you ever have a moment when you feel you really belong to the city? Do you get the feeling that you are part of the community, and have a strong connection with the neighborhood you live in at that moment? This exhibition will show how new residents learn of new places in Boston, how to build connections with the city, and where people feel a sense of belonging. By interacting with several artifacts, visitors will gain a better understanding of the city – it will be a memorable experience for everyone.