It’s no secret that the Art + Design program is a leading force in training the next generation for careers in animation, game design and virtual reality.
However, according to Department Head Derek Ham, the world of academia has developed a stigma around one of the program’s most lucrative opportunities: the entertainment industry. In his eyes, entertainment has become one of humanity’s core needs – especially during a pandemic.
“Entertainment is a conduit for families and communities to connect around and to people to connect together,” says Ham. “There’s still that aspect of human connectivity that entertainment can bring that other things cannot.”
Before joining the faculty in the College of Design, Ham taught at MIT’s School of Architecture, Harvard’s Graduate School of Design and the Rhode Island School of Design. To this day, the word “entertainment” in the context of education gives him pause.
“There’s often an argument against including entertainment within academic curricula,” says Ham. “People ask why they should fund something like entertainment, when there are other high-impact projects being completed. With that in mind, I don’t think we would have survived the last year if it weren’t for entertainment. Whether it be games or film or streaming – in some way, those services carried humanity.”
“Entertainment is a conduit for families and communities to connect around and to people to connect together,” says Ham. “There’s still that aspect of human connectivity that entertainment can bring that other things cannot.”
Ham not only wants Art + Design to fully embrace entertainment as a space to engage and prepare students in, but also wants the program to critically look for opportunities to carve new knowledge using technology and storytelling. Furthermore, to Ham, entertainment is a space which can build empathy and foster rehabilitation.
This year, one of the studios taught by Ham is challenging students to develop VR content for youth placed in the juvenile justice system. Due to the pandemic, many are faced with increased isolation and the psychological taxation that comes with it.
In his studio, Ham asks his students what it means for that population to use VR throughout the rehabilitation process and how it can prepare kids to connect with others once outside of the system.
“Within academia, you can look at these questions through the scope of education – how it teaches things like history, literature and STEM,” says Ham. “Of course, those things are important. COVID has hit. People need something cathartic. Something that relaxes them. That unburdens them. Art + Design is equipped to provide that and needs to lean into that.”
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