As the inaugural year of the MA Design Studies program draws to a close, we are delighted to report that the energy of the first cohort is being rewarded with fellowships, internships, jobs and other summer plans.  Here is a list of what we’re doing this summer…

Hayley Arsenault— Plans to work for designer Gary Graham and at ABC Carpet & Home.

Vivian Cai— Will work at Whitewall Magazine, assisting the editor with conducting interviews, document translation for the Magazine’s newly opened Chinese market, event planning, and communications. She will also temporarily return to China to work in the Magazine’s Beijing office.

Finn Ferris— Will be working on a lengthy paper involving Matthew Arnold and C19th design reform movements. Also plans on starting a personal blog.

Sarah Lillenberg— Plans to work as a graphic designer for a non-profit, Artists for Peace and Justice (APJ), or as a graphic designer for Reboot, a design research organization.

Chen-Yu Lo— Plans to gain exposure in the realm of service design via an internship or other work opportunity. Will also begin preparing for thesis in the fall).

Melissa McWilliams—Will be working for the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation as digital media coordinator.

Kamala Murali— Was awarded a Boisbuchet Design Fellowship in Poitiers, France, installing an exhibition of traditional Japanese textiles. Was also awarded an internship at FabIndia in New Delhi, India.

Will Perkins— Was awarded a Summer Internship in Strategic Planning and Insights Department at RGA (Robert Greenberg Associates) NYC.

Gigi Polo—Summer Internship with biologist Peter Lloyd-Jones, partner in LabStudio, and interdisciplinary design/science studio. Will also be distributing her documentary, Madly Gifted.

Lindsay Reichart—Accepted as a summer student in the New School for Social Research’s Transregional Center for Democratic Studies in Wroclaw (pronounced: Vrost-luv) Poland, July 10-26. Lindsay was also awarded a teaching assistantship for Introduction to Design Studies.

NOTE: Program Director Susan Yelavich is co-teaching a course on the Social Imaginary and the Architecture & Spaces of Wroclaw with sociology professor Elzbieta Matynia at the Center. This is the first time a Parsons professor has been invited to teach at the Center.

Dora Sapunar— Will spend the summer interning at Metropolis Magazine. She was awarded a teaching assistantship for the Introduction to Design Studies course in the fall with faculty member Emma Bowen. Will also continue research on socialist interiors.

Salem Tsegaye— Will work as a Philanthropy Fellow in the Arts and Historic Preservation grantmaking area of the New York Community Trust.