CAS CONNECT 2016

Pouya Jahanshahi , a thi rd-year assistant professor in graphic design, says the new program is designed wi th diversi ty in mind. PHOTO: BRIAN PETROTTA 17 O ne boy moved from Mexico to the United States at age 12. Another earned a college degree in South Korea before immi- grating. And a third left Iran at age 13, finished his high school equivalency in the U.K. and started junior college in the U.S. at age 15. Two things tie the three of them together: taking risks and starting a Master’s of Fine Arts in Graphic Design at Oklahoma State University. Mario Bocanegra, the boy from Mexico, will be one of six newly admit- ted graduate students in the program. Phil Choo, from Seoul, South Korea, is the graduate program director, and Pouya Jahanshahi is a third-year assistant professor in graphic design. Each brings a fascinating perspective to the discipline, which is exactly what faculty members had in mind when creating the program. “We wanted a diverse group so they could complement each other,” Jahanshahi says. “Much of graduate learning is to learn from each other.” OSU’s MFA in graphic design becomes its first graduate program in studio art (there is an existing program in art history). It will encompass three distinct areas: visual communication, motion graphics, and interaction design (some- times called user experience design or UX design). According to Choo, no other program in the Big 12 Conference has that combination. With national organizations already noticing OSU’s undergraduate work, all six allotted slots were quickly filled. In fact, the goal for 2016-17 was to offer three or four spots and grow the program from there. “We’re very thrilled,” Choo says. “Fortunately we have a good group of students from different backgrounds, geographical locations and age groups.” Indeed, with students from India, Korea, New York and Oklahoma, rang- ing in age from recent college graduate to 44 years old, the student body is a diverse cohort. That level of diversity reflects the faculty and helped persuade Bocanegra to continue his studies after graduating with his bachelor’s degree in fine arts from OSU in May 2016. “I feel like there will be more surprises,” he says. Bocanegra had many of the faculty members as an undergraduate, and he’s looking forward to all aspects of the graduate program, including research and teaching. Each student is required to take a teaching practicum during their first year and will be able to teach lower- division design courses. That is all part of what makes the MFA a terminal degree for the discipline. Graduates of the program will have the ability to work in industry or academia, making the MFA equivalent to a doctor- ate. Choo is excited by what OSU has accomplished in getting the program off the ground but feels the success of the program ultimately relies on its graduates. “I want the students to become profes- sors or leaders in graphic design, and our program will grow up with that support,” he says. Both Choo and Jahanshahi feel they grew up during their graduate school years. For Jahanshahi, this was almost liter- ally the case. He was 15 when he came to the United States to live with his uncle in Los Angeles. At 13, his parents moved him from Iran to London. His father was allowed to leave Iran for business purposes and the whole family migrated to the U.K. to at least temporarily escape the bloody Iran-Iraq War. In his two years there, Jahanshahi studied for and passed all five equivalency exams in the U.K. to qualify for college. All he had to do next was change his country, his language, and start college at age 15. “Luckily, I was tall,” he jokes. Because Jahanshahi was not born into the family of a master artist, he had no future as one in Iran. In the U.S., he discovered all sorts of careers he could pursue as an artist. Still, he had to sell his parents on the idea.