Master of Design

• Our specialized curriculum provides access to various community-building and mentorship opportunities in a critical and expansive academic experience.
• You’ll gain best practice tools and skills for working in the virtual realm, aligning with current industry standards.
• You’ll develop a thesis project that addresses themes touching on social, cultural and environmental sectors, as well as policy and government work, health and education, and editorial and communication design.
• You’ll learn thesis project approaches ranging from new critical and speculative methods to engaging with Indigenous-centered research practices.
• You’ll take your place at the forefront of creative and professional innovation and become a powerful designer, facilitator, communicator and researcher ready to lead across a range of professional and creative landscapes.

Explore MDes Information Futures courses.

• Alongside explorative coursework, you'll develop an interdisciplinary design practice through research seminars and studio classes.
• You'll engage with various emergent and established design realms through independent thesis development on a topic of your choice.
• More wide-ranging and more exploratory than the Interaction stream, the Interdisciplinary pathway emphasizes playfulness and hands-on learning, allowing you to understand how material choices relate to community, sustainability and social progress.
• Participation opportunities in public presentations and exhibitions, as well as a series of lectures from renowned designers.
• With access to an expansive on-campus suite of studios, labs, and research facilities, you'll be immersed in innovative and formative play within a design field of your choice.

Explore MDes Interdisciplinary courses.

• You'll identify and develop a research focus area within the interaction design realm. This may involve researching human behaviour, the overlap between the physical and digital, the use of ephemeral materials, psychology in design and other related topics of interest.
• In a studio-practice and research-based environment, you’ll learn to challenge assumptions on how we engage with one another and the world around us.
• With access to various on-campus labs (including a VR lab) and participatory research guidance, you’ll lead and contribute to futuring, speculative writing, and experimental and collaborative design.
• Research seminars, studio classes, public presentations, and lectures from renowned designers and scholars will inform, deepen and supplement your design practice as you complete your coursework and thesis project.

Explore MDes Interaction courses.

Graduate Peer-Mentorship Program

The new ECU peer mentorship program for MFA and MDes students fosters professional and academic development, builds relationships and community ties, and strengthens our EDI commitments. This initiative is designed to support Indigenous, racialized, and graduate students of other justice-seeking groups, both domestic and international.

This new program, which started in the 2023-34 academic year, aligns with the NSERC EDI Capacity Building Grant objectives, and its development and implementation are done in collaboration between ECU’s Graduate Studies and Research Office.

Through the program, mentors and mentees have the opportunity to give and receive support, gain professional and academic development, share their experience and knowledge, develop leadership skills, and contribute to creating a more inclusive and supportive graduate community.

Future Creative Catalysts Graduate Research Fellowships

The recently launched Future Creative Catalysts Graduate Research Fellowships supports up to 4 second-year graduate student researchers in the Master of Fine Arts and Master of Design programs in the 23-24 academic year.

Created to champion original and meaningful art and design research, the Fellowships present a unique opportunity for graduate students to elevate their research and professional endeavours through hands-on projects and research-creation activities. The Faculty of Graduate Studies is committed to supporting high-quality research that will contribute to academic progress and societal improvement.

The four recipients of the Fellowship, which aim to connect students with our new 2023-28 Strategic Research Plan, conduct creative research at ECU and beyond that resonates with one or more of the University's strategic research plan themes.

In Touch, a Grad Studies Symposium

The student-led October 2020 week-long symposium focused on exploring research, creative activity, and collective community actions that unfold in the midst of and beyond the COVID-19 health crisis.

Student Research Assistants led on organizing and facilitating the activities with support from staff and faculty, in discussing various topics like virtual modes of sharing and the ways digital technologies are integrated in our practice, and mobilizing art and design in the service of social and political transformation.

Through panel discussion, professional development workshops, and guest lectures, this symposium provided a common site of dialogue and inquiry across all graduate programs at Emily Carr University.

CAGS Virtual Symposia | Innovation in Research Creation in Art and Design

Grad students from Emily Carr University presented their thought-provoking work in the 2nd CAGS Virtual Symposia in Spring 2021. The free, week-long event featured unique webinars addressing various challenges, opportunities, and inflection points in Canadian graduate education.

This online event was hosted by CAGS and chaired by the ECU’s AVP Research + Dean, Jake Kerr Faculty of Graduate Studies, and featured six grad student panelists. The panelists presented their research process and creative practice in connection to innovation and research-creation.

Collaborative 4 Minute Thesis Pitch Online Event

ECU grad students in the MFA and MDes programs participated in the joint ECU + OCAD + AUArts + NSCAD virtual forum in Spring 2021. This cross-school professional development exercise allowed students to present their thesis projects to a wide audience.

Students had the chance to present their thesis pitch, and hear from other master's students across disciplines and institutions. All enrolled students were eligible to participate in this collaborative, non-competitive event.