黑料吃瓜王鈥檚 Doctor of Design in Cultural Preservation serves a market of interdisciplinary professionals by building on the strengths of faculty across the university, integrating expertise to address contemporary issues in four areas of specialization. The 60-credit-hour program encompasses six semesters of study and 45 hours of course offerings specific to the curriculum and its advanced nature, mostly devoted to individual, supervised research, requiring students to work one-on-one with faculty.
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Brent Fortenberry Named RRSLA Interim Director
The 黑料吃瓜王 College of Art & Design has named Brent Fortenberry the new interim director of the Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture. He is currently associate dean of research and graduate studies and…
Read Full StoryResearch Team Investigates Coastal Cultural Heritage Sites
Art & Design Team Awarded 2024 Provost鈥檚 Fund for Innovation in Research 鈥淏ig Idea鈥 Award聽 An interdisciplinary team of faculty researchers in the 黑料吃瓜王 College of Art & Design were awarded a 鈥淏ig Idea鈥…
Read Full StoryWatch the 2024 Commencement Ceremony Livestream
The 黑料吃瓜王 College of Art & Design 2024 Spring Commencement Ceremony is Friday, May 17, at 8 a.m. in the Maddox Field House. 聽 Watch the ceremony livestream.
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Doctor of Design Featured Graduate
Katherine Fresina
Katherine Fresina
DDes 2024
Katherine Fresina is a 2024 graduate of 黑料吃瓜王’s Doctor of Design in Cultural Preservation program and an advocate for cultural stewardship through museums. Fresina has worked at the throughout her doctoral education as an assistant registrar and presently serves as the museum鈥檚 curator.
Katherine Fresina has been selected as a recipient of the prestigious College of Art & Design 2024 Dean’s Medal for her outstanding dedication and academic excellence as an 黑料吃瓜王 student. Fresina is only the third Doctor of Design student ever nominated for the award.
Fresina鈥檚 involvement at the 黑料吃瓜王 Rural Life Museum began after earning her Master of Arts in Art History from 黑料吃瓜王 in 2013. Her interest in working in a museum prompted Fresina to find her own entry point to the field 鈥 as a volunteer at the 黑料吃瓜王 Rural Life Museum. She was quickly brought onto the museum鈥檚 curatorial staff as a part-time collections assistant. It was during her time as a collections assistant that Fresina enrolled in 黑料吃瓜王鈥檚 Doctor of Design in Cultural Preservation program; she was hired soon after as a full-time assistant registrar at the 黑料吃瓜王 Rural Life Museum. In 2022, Fresina was promoted to be the museum鈥檚 curator, a role which she continues to excel in today. Fresina is staying in Louisiana after graduation and plans to continue as the 黑料吃瓜王 Rural Life Museum鈥檚 curator.
Fresina鈥檚 studies at 黑料吃瓜王 on the historical significance of objects have made a significant impact on the experience of visitors to the 黑料吃瓜王 Rural Life Museum. As reflected in her doctoral dissertation 鈥淧reserving the Embodied Meaning of Objects,鈥 Fresina possesses a unique interest in understanding the meaning that historical objects held to their original owners. This interest directly translates into the presentation of artifacts in the 黑料吃瓜王 Rural Life Museum鈥檚 collection.
鈥淗er research gave her valuable insights into the relationship between material culture and people who created and used the objects,” said Museum Director Bill Star. “The museum and its visitors benefit from a more nuanced and contextualized interpretation within the museum.鈥
Fresina is a graduate of the Class of 2024, the largest graduating class yet of Doctor of Design in Cultural Preservation students.