IDC Director: Incoming & Outgoing

After 3 1/2 years of directing IDC, I have stepped down to join our full-time faculty and focus on my teaching, research, digital arts practice, and this blog!

We are happy to welcome Nadia Elrokhsy (pictured on the right) as the new Director of IDC. Nadia is an Assistant Professor of Sustainable Interior Design and, until joining IDC, was the Associate Chair of the AAS Department.

A practicing architect and interior designer for over seventeen years, Nadia completed a Masters degree in Environmental Design in Architecture at The Martin Center for Architectural and Urban Studies, Cambridge University, UK. Her work has been widely published.

In 2007, Nadia completed Al Gore’s Climate Project Training and has given twelve, regionally specific, presentations on the climate crisis within the year since completing her training. She is currently working on the environmental design for a house in upstate New York.

Nadia’s work spans the arts, communication design, fashion and media. She is also an environmental and housing advocate. Her research subjects explore Sustainable Development across scales and disciplines, and the relationship between affordable housing and predatory lending - policies and practices that affect quality of life in many communities.

In AAS, Nadia developed and taught a course in Design Analysis, Environmental Design for Interior Designers. She also worked closely with all four AAS degree programs and General Studio (Fashion Studies, Fashion Marketing, Graphic Design and Interior Design) to incorporate environmental issues into the coursework, and support new programs and events that address the complexities of sustainability in today’s consumer-driven economy. The first event, a film showing of An Inconvenient Truth, was followed by a panel discussion comprised of faculty and students from across the University. Other events were supported under the umbrella of Rethinking Design – Sustainability and Innovation, which began with the Rethinking Fashion series 1-3. This series, started by the AAS Fashion Marketing Director and full-time faculty, included topics on fashion, marketing, merchandising, textile, accessories, home furnishings, retail and web design.

Beyond Parsons, Nadia is often engaged in work across The New School. Last year she presented at the New School’s 2008 Focus The Nation teach-in, she has lectured at The Eugene Lang College in the area of Interdisciplinary Science, and continues to play a role in the development of Urban and Environmental curriculum at the New School.

In addition to directing IDC, Nadia will be a member of the Academic Committee for Professional Studies and will support and develop cross-disciplinary work in the AAS programs, along with Pam Klein and the Directors of the four programs, in the advancement of the AAS degree programs into MPS/MS degree programs and extensions.