Since 1936 a commitment to the wellbeing of all has guided Design at UC Davis, the only comprehensive academic design department in the University of California system. We pursue creative, flexible, research-driven graduate (MFA) and undergraduate (BA) programs emphasizing responsibility and delight in society and environment. We believe design should be open and relevant to all Californians, and to those beyond our borders, mindful of the world we are making when we design.
Since 1936 a commitment to the wellbeing of all has guided Design
at UC Davis, the only comprehensive academic design department in
the University of California system. We pursue creative,
flexible, research-driven graduate (MFA) and undergraduate (BA)
programs emphasizing responsibility and delight in society and
environment. We believe design should be open and relevant to all
Californians, and to those beyond our borders, mindful of the
world we are making when we design.
Our longstanding strengths in design history and theory, visual
communication, exhibition design, interiors, textiles, fashion
and lighting have been expanded by teaching and research in
industrial design, digital fabrication and prototyping,
computational design (data and code-driven interactivity,
generative design, social media, smart objects and wearables,
intelligent environments, augmented and virtual reality),
biodesign, public engagement and placemaking, disaster response,
and more. Interdisciplinary collaboration with the humanities,
engineering, and the sciences allows us to contribute to complex
global problem-solving.
We make by hand, by machine, and digitally. We have had computer
labs since the 1980s, a textile printer since 2005, and our
Makerspace opened in 2021 to allow students to test and prototype
their ideas. Our renowned California Lighting and Technology
Center opened in 2003 to improve the quality of light we live by
while reducing the burden on consumers and the environment.
From its inception, our curriculum has nurtured an inclusive
curiosity about design beyond Eurocentrism and patriarchy. The
majority of our first faculty were women. The first item in our
Design Museum Collection was a traditional costume from the
Highlands of Peru; in the 1990s, the department taught
traditional African building techniques. Sustainability has long
been core to our research and teaching, and decoloniality is
re-shaping our understandings of design. The Alberini Family
Speaker Series invites leaders in diverse and emerging areas of
design to share their work with us and with the public at large.
Originally part of the Home Economics Major, the Design Program
became its own entity in the mid-1960s as part of the Applied
Behavioral Sciences Department, growing into one of the largest
majors at Davis. It combined with Landscape Architecture as the
Department of Environmental Design in 1982, and became its own
Department in 2012. Its Graduate Program launched in the 1990s,
initially in Textile Arts and Costume, and now recruits a broad
array of students on the basis of their own research programs.
The department is uniquely positioned to draw on expertise from
across a leading public research university, and has been part of
both the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences and
the College of Letters & Science, where it is today.
Gifts to the Department of Design support outstanding academic
programs and advance the pursuit of new knowledge. Contribute via
credit card online, or donate by check (see below for
details).
Please consider making a gift as follows:
Design Department General Support
Your gift supports outstanding academic programs within the
Department of Design.
For individual faculty or staff members, advisers, or graduate
students, please see our People section. If you have a
question about the undergraduate major in Design, see the
Undergraduate
section. You can also make an advising appointment or contact a
peer adviser there.
