MFA in Systems Design Thinking

The next decade asks us to reconsider the role and relevance of design in every aspect of our world, connecting humans beings and the planet.

In CCS's Systems Design Thinking program, you will strengthen your ability to leverage the capacity of individuals, communities, institutions, businesses, and systems within a city to survive, adapt, and grow in the face of climate change and other issues facing our planet. You will become an expert in understanding emotional intelligence, social influence, and service orientation.

You will design initiatives and projects in a forward-looking, inclusive, and integrated way, re-and up-skilling your “human” competence to address multiple challenges at one time, improving services and saving resources.

Your experience will be uniquely shaped by being in Detroit. With its UNESCO City of Design designation and its multi-layered reality, Detroit welcomes you to participate in project-based work and hands-on experiences. Is your portfolio demonstrating versatility, critical thinking, rigor, point of view, and accomplishment working with visual media? If yes, join us.

The College for Creative Studies (CCS) is a nonprofit, private college authorized by the Michigan Education Department to grant Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. CCS, located in midtown Detroit, strives to provide students with the tools needed for successful careers in the dynamic and growing creative industries. CCS fosters students’ resolve to pursue excellence, act ethically, engage their responsibilities as citizens, and learn throughout their lives. With world-class faculty and unsurpassed facilities, students learn to be visual communicators who actively use art and design toward the betterment of society. The College is a major supplier of talent to numerous industries, such as transportation, film and animation, advertising and communications, consumer electronics, athletic apparel, and many more. Its graduates are exhibiting artists and teachers, design problem solvers and innovators, as well as creative leaders in business.

Founded in 1906 as the Detroit Society of Arts and Crafts, CCS plays a key role in Detroit’s cultural and educational communities. A private fully accredited college, CCS enrolls more than 1,400 students, pursuing Master of Fine Arts degrees in Color and Materials Design, Interaction Design, Systems Design Thinking and Transportation Design and Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in Advertising Design, Art Education, Art Practice (Fine Arts), Communication Design, Craft & Material Studies, Entertainment Arts, Fashion Accessories Design, Illustration, Interior Design, Photography, Product Design, and Transportation Design. The College also offers free art education for more than 4,000 Detroit youth annually through its Community Arts Partnerships program. In addition, the College’s University Prep: Art & Design is a public charter middle and high school enrolling more than 800 students in a high-performance academic curriculum with a special focus on art and design.