What is a benefit you see now in studying your area of emphasis and the applied humanities?
One benefit that I received while studying the Spatial Organization and Design Thinking emphasis was being encouraged to challenge the socio-economic injustices in the realm of design. Interior design, landscape design, and publicly-facing design are commodities that cost more than the average person can afford. Through visiting Tucson sites with my Applied Humanities classes and writing an Honors Thesis on design issues, this major helped contextualize spatial issues historically and presently. Pretty much, I learned about the ethical challenges behind such a luxury-focused field, and I was encouraged to creatively imagine how to challenge these socio-economic limitations.
With hindsight, what do you appreciate about your Applied Humanities education?
Coming to college, I was determined to double major. I have a lifelong passion for ballet but with the the low job security in the field of dance, I was excited to also pursue my other career interest while at the UofA, interior design. The Applied Humanities program made my path as a double major not only possible, but insightful and meaningful. If you're considered double majoring, this is definitely the way to go. I felt like I was able to honor both of my major equally. Besides this, I appreciated how the program exposed the power of the humanities- through encouraging interactions between diverse communities, generating new perspectives with which to view social issues, and creating opportunities to work through difficult projects on a team. It's the kind of major that helped me reject many of my preconceived "truths" about things, and I feel like that has prepared me to be a more collaborative and open minded worker, in both my career as a dancer and in my future work as a designer.
