Interior Architecture and Design Faculty Present at Interior Design Educators Council Conference

Several Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design faculty members will be presenting at the Interior Design Educators Council Annual Conference this week. The conference, held March 8-11 in Vancouver, British Columbia, is the premier event for cutting edge research and teaching in the field of interior design.

All presenters are faculty within the Department of Interior Architecture and Design at the U of A.

“The presentations are a sampling of the research and design work occurring in the department,” Carl Matthews, professor and department head, said. “They illustrate how our faculty and students are both engaged in important community projects and working to improve our teaching and learning environment.”

Jennifer Webb, Ph.D., associate professor, will present “Relationships between Balance, Accessibility Features, and Home Design,” with fellow University of Arkansas colleagues: Arna Nishita Nithila, graduate research assistant in civil engineering; Suman Mitra, Ph.D., assistant professor of engineering; Michelle Gray, Ph.D., head of the Department of Health, Human Performance, & Recreation; and Alishia Ferguson, Ph.D., associate director of the School of Social Work. This project explores housing accessibility, confidence of balance, and impact of home and neighborhood design on independent living.

Charles Sharpless, assistant professor, will present “Pop Up: Designing the CB to You Mobile Art Lab.” This presentation describes an advanced undergraduate interior design studio that, in spring 2022, researched and designed a vehicle fit-out for Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art to host arts workshops, performances and conversations within regional communities.

Jinoh Park, assistant professor, will present “Exploring the effect of the opportunity for students to monitor their design progress on their motivation level.” This study investigates the effect of providing a design progress monitoring opportunity in interior design studios to enhance student motivation.

Matthews will present “Mean Girls: A Critical Look at Gender Bias in Interior Design Course Evaluations.” This presentation investigates gender variances in faculty course evaluations and discusses ramifications and strategies to achieve equity.