Roski introduces new online masters program

The Roski School of Art and Design is teaming up with WIRED magazine and its parent company, Condé Nast, to offer a new online master’s program in integrated design, business and technology. Available in the 2015-2016 academic school year, the 18-24-month degree will feature interdisciplinary approaches to better equip students in the tech industry.

Erica Muhl, the dean of the Roski School, announced the program last Wednesday at WIRED By Design, a two-day live magazine event in Marin, California. This program will follow the interdisciplinary style of many existing programs at USC in which the coursework will be a mixture of classes from the Roski School, the Marshall School of Business and the Viterbi School of Engineering.

According to Muhl, the concept for the program developed out of Roski’s initiative to move away from traditional single-discipline models to multiple-discipline models following the launch of the Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy for Arts, Technology and the Business of Innovation.

“As technology continues to drive business and industry into new areas, the need for similar programs at the graduate level — programs that allow students and working professionals to expand and enhance their current knowledge and skills through a whole new style of thinking — is clear,” she said in an email to the Daily Trojan.

Muhl has also been working closely with the editor-in-chief of WIRED Magazine, Scott Dadich. On behalf of WIRED, he expressed the relevance the new program has in the contemporary technology world.

“Many companies need to be well versed and proficient in design thinking that [this masters program] really can power great leaps forward. Someone equipped with [these] tools [will] excel in an environment we see today,” he said.

Headquartered in San Francisco, WIRED is a monthly magazine that reports on how contemporary technologies affect aspects of modern life, such as consumer behavior, economics, culture, politics and lifestyle. WIRED actively analyzes current trends and forecasts future trends in technology. The partnership with WIRED magazine began when parent company Condé Nast contacted Muhl after realizing the connection between WIRED’s dedication to report innovative technology and Roski’s interdisciplinary visions in the fields of business and technological design.

Dadich explained how WIRED employees — editors, writers and designers — will be joining the faculty alongside USC professors and researchers.

“Eighty percent of the curriculum is going to be generated and orchestrated by USC faculty under Dean Muhl’s leadership,” Dadich said. “Leveraging multiple schools across USC, we’re going to build a really strong curriculum where WIRED folks are going to come in to teach specialties, intensive coursework and capstone programs.”

According to Dadich, the goal is to have 50 to 75 students enrolled for the first cohort.

Muhl further explained the infrastructure of the program and how resources from WIRED will be supplementing the academic content she will help compile on USC’s end.

“The online component comprises academically rigorous online synchronous and asynchronous coursework developed by prominent USC faculty from a variety of disciplines,” she said in an email to the Daily Trojan. “The courses will be cohort-based, and designed to be interactive, taking advantage of WIRED’s rich multimedia resources.”

The program will also include a face-to-face component with a boot camp experience at USC, a residency at WIRED headquarters and opportunities to network with speakers at both WIRED and USC events, according to Muhl.

Albert Montgomery, a sophomore majoring in fine arts, said he might be interested in the program later on, if time and money allow.

“I think it’s great that it’s integrated and [that] it involves becoming familiar with the kind of people from different fields who you might work with in the future,” Montgomery said.

Christina Lee, a senior majoring in art, said she was interested in the exposure and experience the program could offer to students but has no plans to enroll.

“I heard that they’re going to be working closely with WIRED magazine so it’s getting first-hand experience about [what] the professional world would be like instead of just staying within school,” she said.

Both Muhl and Dadich said that specifics for the program have yet to be officially determined. They both feel, however, that the program is a step in the right direction in fulfilling a void in terms of preparing students for the evolving technology industry.

“We see a world changing so rapidly,” Dadich said. “Better-qualified students are coming out of schools. And the better equipped they are to deal with the rapid pace of innovation, the better our world becomes. We’ve seen nothing but progress driven by technology and design thinking, especially in the last 20-30 years. Better-equipped students create better leaders, creating a more connected and powerful community that we all benefit from.”