As many of you know from previous entries, a little over two weeks ago, three faculty members of the AAS program at Parsons the New School for Design visited Japan and Vantan. The group included Pam Klein, Dean of AAS, Tom Boskett, curriculum coordinator and color-theory instructor, and Kichisaburo Ogawa, drawing instructor.
This visit amounted to much more than an exchange of information. As the first visit to Japan for both Pam and Tom, it became a cultural exchange which revealed the effectiveness of design as a tool for communication and the similarities between Parsons and Vantan students. Through several presentations and working directly with our students, the Parsons faculty members emphasized these points over and over again.
For instance, during a presentation for Vantan staff and faculty, Tom Boskett explained the different ways of learning (or presenting information). He spoke of auditory, visual and kinetic learning, and explained how he adjusted his teaching style to how a student learned best. This makes sense and is great for international students who may not be 100% comfortable with the English language.
Within this presentation, Tom also presented what he calls the ‘language of design.’ This is a set of vocabulary which allows designers of all disciplines to accurately understand what another is talking about. This is particularly useful for understanding across cultural boundaries. We may not speak the same language, but a standard understanding of concepts such as ‘hue’ or ‘chroma’ certainly helps make the design world smarter and smaller.
As a guest lecturer for Vantan International Programs color-theory course, Tom put both his teaching methods and the language of design together to lead an interactive and fascinating class. Playing around with color-aid cards, students physically learned how to use four colors to create moods as different as ‘angry’ to ‘elated’ and representations of ‘pop rock’ and ‘jazz.’ Students further ooed-and-ahhed as Tom showed how to make two different colors look like one.
Ogawa-sensei also guest taught the Vantan International Program’s fashion drawing class and demonstrated the standard method for fashion drawing. He explained how to look at the human body and posture and how to place clothing over those shapes. The students appeared enthusiastic about his explanation and followed up with a torrent of questions.
During these teaching sessions Pam often commented about how Vantan students “are just like my students.” From style to attitude to the ambition to succeed, it appears that Parsons and Vantan students share several similarities. This increases our confidence in our students’ ability to succeed at Parsons and internationally. We look forward to our students’ success and to a continued friendship with Parsons.
