The College of Arts, Media and Design’s School of Architecture is pleased to announce that Master of Architecture student Cyrus Dahmubed has been named Editor-in-Chief of the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS)’s journal, CRIT. In his new position, Cyrus will be leading a team of writers and working with the newly appointed Design Editor, Kirk Newton from the School of Architecture at Carnegie Mellon University, to elevate the content, look, and feel of the publication. Together, Cyrus and his team will be responsible for the production of both the Summer (digital) and Winter (print) editions.

CRIT is the premier publication for students in architecture, design, and associated fields. Published since 1976, CRIT offers a variety of opportunities for AIAS members, and acts as a forum for critical discourse and the dissemination of knowledge. New issues are typically released each year around the two annual AIAS conferences: the Grassroots Leadership Conference in July and FORUM in December/January.

With spring already right around the corner, Cyrus plans to hit the ground running in his new role – and start brainstorming with his team of 20 students, ranging from freshman to master’s degree candidates, to establish innovative approaches and fresh themes for the next issue.

“I am looking forward to managing and collaborating with architecture and design students from all different colleges and universities,” said Cyrus. “The diversity in ages and backgrounds that is represented on our new team will lead to some really productive conversations and strategy sessions.”

Cyrus has experience with leading other students from his time serving as a recitation leader, a position similar to a teaching assistant that allows undergraduate students to supplement large lectures with a smaller, seminar-style discussion. He has been a recitation leader for six courses as a master’s student at Northeastern, and while the curriculum of the break-out seminars is tied to the broader course curriculum, he was responsible for preparing his own hour-long lesson plans. This experience has made him comfortable bringing groups of people together in meaningful ways.

“My goal is to get the new CRIT editorial team together as soon as possible so that I can start to get a sense of the writers’ interests and strengths. Since we are all across the country, and with one student located abroad, we will take advantage of ways to connect digitally, like Google Hangouts,” Cyrus explained. “From these initial conversations, I will begin building smaller teams that will be able to effectively narrow in and focus on certain topics and angles.”

He plans to build on his two-year experience as Editor-in-Chief of Common Ground as he now approaches his next challenge leading CRIT. Common Ground is the School of Architecture’s award-winning peer-reviewed journal that showcases student work, faculty and industry leader commentary, book reviews, essays, and more, which Cyrus and a team spearheaded in the fall of 2016. Through his work with Common Ground, Cyrus has become skilled at collaborating with teammates and publication contributors, managing production schedules, and curating narratives and ideas in such a way that fully engages audience members.

He hopes to engage audience members of CRIT in an equally effective way.

“Finding interesting narratives and themes that tie all of the journal’s pieces together will be a key part of my strategy,” said Cyrus. “My approach is that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and that careful curation combined with new design elements will highlight and solidify CRIT as the academic publication that it is.”

As a Northeastern student, Cyrus’s new position may also help open doors for future partnerships between AIAS and the University.

“My approach to CRIT will certainly be impacted by my time at Northeastern University and I look forward to seeing other ways the school and student-led organization can collaborate,” Cyrus concluded. “The School of Architecture will naturally serve as a backdrop to my new role.”