In the classroom
Teaching
Two decades of studio practice, taught. Below is a portfolio of how I run a course — philosophy, syllabus, live Canvas coursework, rubrics, student feedback, an AI curriculum, faculty workshops, and the technology I fold into learning.
Everything on this page is a demonstrative placeholder, built to show the structure. Real course materials, screenshots, and evaluations drop into these same slots.
Teaching philosophy
How I think about a classroom — and the three principles every course is built on.
“I teach the way I direct: start from the human on the other end, make the idea legible, and hold the work to a standard the student can carry into any room after mine.”
Teaching statement · excerpt
Make the invisible visible
Every abstract concept gets a diagram, a demo, or a made thing. Students learn by producing, then reflecting on what they produced.
Critique is a craft
I teach students to give and receive feedback in specific, kind, actionable language — the single most transferable skill in any studio.
Tools change, judgment lasts
We use the newest software and AI, but the course is really about taste, ethics, and the reasoning behind a decision.
Courses taught
Design and digital-media courses I have taught, across three institutions.
- Education AffiliatesGraphic Design & Digital MediaUndergraduate
- Inter American UniversityDesign Foundations & Studio ArtUndergraduate
- Briarcliffe CollegeDigital Media & Computer GraphicsAssociate
My Canvas Course
A live look at how a course is structured in the LMS — modules, publish states, and student-facing navigation.
- Reading: Grids & constraints
- Studio: Build a token set
- Discussion: What is a system?
- Lecture: Dynamic identities
- Assignment: Logo behavior spec
- Peer review
- Workshop: Type scale
- Assignment: Editorial spread
- Rubric published
Assignment & rubric
A representative brief paired with the analytic rubric students are graded against.
Editorial Spread & Type System
Design a four-page editorial spread governed by a single type scale and grid. Deliver an InDesign package, a one-page system spec, and a 150-word rationale. Due Week 6, 100 points.
- Type scale documented
- Grid + baseline shown
- Press-ready PDF
- Rationale ≤ 150 words
Student evaluations & testimonials
Course-evaluation summaries and unedited student voices from recent terms.
4.8 / 5
Overall course rating
4.9 / 5
Feedback usefulness
96%
Would recommend
3 yrs
Consistent scores
“The clearest critique I have ever received. I finally understand why my work does or doesn't hold together.”
Student · Typography III
“She made AI feel like a tool I control, not a threat. I left with a workflow I still use at my job.”
Student · AI for Designers
“Every assignment connected to something real. Nothing felt like busywork.”
Student · Brand Systems
AI curriculum examples
A six-week module that teaches AI as a studio tool — with ethics and human judgment at the center.
Foundations & ethics
What the models are, where they fail, and the ethics of use in a studio.
Prompting as briefing
Treat a prompt like an art director's brief; iterate toward intent.
Ideation & moodboards
Divergent concepting with image models; curating, not accepting.
Production workflows
Upscale, in-paint, and composite inside a real deliverable.
Content & copy systems
Voice, guardrails, and human editing of generated text.
Capstone & critique
Ship an AI-assisted project; defend every human decision.
Workshops & faculty development
A hands-on faculty session — title slide and run of show — that leaves educators with a built assignment.
Teaching With AI,
Without Losing the Craft
A hands-on session for faculty: build one AI-integrated assignment before you leave the room.
Run of show
- 00:00Why now — the shift in creative tooling
- 00:20Live demo: AI in a real design pipeline
- 00:45Hands-on: build your first assignment
- 01:20Policy, academic integrity & assessment
- 01:45Q&A and a rollout plan for your dept.
Technology integrated into learning
The shift from lecture-and-hand-in to studio-in-real-tools, and the stack that makes it work.
Before
Lecture, hand-in, grade. Feedback arrives late, tools stay theoretical, and the work never leaves the classroom.
After
Studio in the tools professionals use, live critique in Figma, rubric feedback in Canvas, and a shipped, linkable artifact for every student.
Figma + FigJam
Live co-design, in-class critique, async feedback
Canvas LMS
Modules, rubric grading, SpeedGrader feedback
Adobe CC
Production craft — InDesign, Photoshop, Premiere
Generative AI
Ideation, drafting, and guarded content workflows
Miro / boards
Research synthesis and affinity mapping
GitHub Pages
Students ship a live portfolio, not a PDF
Teaching is the same discipline as directing — find the core idea, make it legible, and hold the work to a standard people carry forward.