As part of the interactive poster sessions, three MFA students in Design—Ali El-Chaer, Rachel Jung A. Huh, and Iris Qing Zeng—presented research-driven projects developed in their Research Methods course, which emphasizes the integration of quantitative data and qualitative narratives as a framework for climate communication.
Ali El-Chaer’s project explored the disappearance of bird species in New Jersey, combining ecological datasets with regional folk tales to situate biodiversity loss within lived cultural memory. Rachel Jung A. Huh’s work traced her father’s journey to the Arctic, bringing together family photographs and scientific measurement imagery to connect personal experience with large-scale climate observation and data collection. Iris Qing Zeng focused on color bleaching as a visual and material signal of environmental stress, translating scientific phenomena into perceptible visual language.
Together, these projects demonstrated how design-led approaches to data visualization and storytelling can make climate science legible, affective, and socially grounded, aligning with RCEI’s emphasis on the human dimensions of climate change. In parallel, animations addressing climate change created by undergraduate design students were also on display, highlighting how design education at multiple levels contributes to innovative, interdisciplinary climate communication.
Work by Sophie Auger, 2022.Work by Corina Coughlan, 2022.Work by Saba Maheen, 2024.
The MFA in Design at Rutgers University is an innovative program that situates a critical, experimental, and speculative studio practice within a major public Research University. Through close personal attention in studio and seminar classes, we enable designers and artists to develop and realize their distinct research directions. The MFA encourages work that is grounded in scientific, aesthetic, political, or social research. All admitted students receive scholarship support, and other opportunities including teaching where appropriate.
Our dedicated studios and excellent facilities are on our campus in New Brunswick, an hour from New York and Philadelphia. The curriculum interweaves studio work and theory with opportunities for collaboration with scholars across Rutgers. The program is at the heart of an interdisciplinary department that fosters and integrates a dynamic range of art and design practices. The MFA encourages applications from designers, artists, and interdisciplinary practitioners. Further details on the program and how to apply are here.
JOIN US IN Livingston Student Center(Livingston Hall), New Brunswick RESERVE YOUR SPOT TO ENSURE PREFERENTIAL SEATING(i.e the good seats)
The Woahjabi Project and The Rutgers Association of Marketing and Strategy would like to cordially invite you to the 2016 United Media Conference. We are very impressed with your community presence and believe that your attendance at the United Media Conference would add significant value to this powerfully innovative conversation on disrupting the media industry through its diversification.
The United Media Conference will be taking place on Friday, April 8th from 6:00-9:00pm in Livingston Hall (Livingston Student Center). It will be a night full of TED style talks from industry leaders in the Marketing and Media fields, free food, outstanding workshops on social media, guest posting, marketing, journalism, and photography as well as the exclusive opportunity to network with these industry leaders. You will get the exclusive opportunity to meet:
Rowaida Abdelaziz, World Social Media Editor at the Huffington Post
Babita Patel, Executive Director of The KIOO Project and Renowned Humanitarian Photographer
Dr. Ashwani Monga, Professor of Marketing and Chair of the Marketing Department at the Rutgers Business School
Kaila Boulware, Digital Media Project Manager and Revered Social Activist
Sobia Masood, Junior at the Fashion Institute of Technology and a Fashion Columnist for Muslimgirl.net
Conference admission is at absolutely no cost to you.
Dress Code is Business Casual.
Registration starts at 5:30PM.
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns please do reach out to Woahjabi@gmail.com and/or rams.newbrunswick@gmail.com.
Feel free to check out more details on the Facebook event page.
We hope that you take advantage of this unique opportunity to be a part of a night you will never forget—see you there!
Sincerely,
Executive Board, The Woahjabi Project Executive Board, Rutgers Association of Marketing and Strategy
