It is with tremendous pride that we announce that Dr. Jason Farman, Professor of American Studies and longtime Director of the Design Cultures & Creativity (DCC) living-learning program, has accepted a new position as Associate Dean of Academic Standards and Policies in the Graduate School, effective June 4, 2022.
This is a bittersweet moment for DCC, as Jason's leadership, energy, and spirit have been essential to the growth of the program since its inception in 2010. Under his directorship, DCC flourished as a space for truly extraordinary cohorts of first- and second-year students to find an intellectual, creative, and social home at the University of Maryland, year after year. He has steered DCC through numerous revisions to its curriculum, which results now in a rigorous two-year program that challenges students to move beyond superficial understandings of design, human cultures, and creative thinking and processes to explore in greater depth their own power and agency in their skills, their craft, their communities, and the world. He has further brought DCC into close and productive contact with other creative units and initiatives by forging pathways of connection with the College of Arts & Humanities, the School of Information Studies, the Department of Computer Science, the Human-Computer Interaction Lab, and the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University.
Jason's tireless commitment to the program, and his unassailable devotion to DCC students and alumni, has fundamentally shaped DCC and will forever remain an integral part of DCC's community and culture. His departure from Prince Frederick Hall is a tremendous loss, but his influence and presence will remain an everyday part of the DCC experience for every student—past, present, and future.
We wish Jason tremendous luck and joy as he takes this next step forward in his career, and we offer our boundless gratitude for all that he has invested in DCC.
As Jason departs, DCC will navigate a significant period of transition. Effective June 4, 2022, current Associate Director Dr. Jessica H. Lu will assume a position of Interim Director for the 2022-2023 academic year, while DCC launches a university-wide search for its next Director.