Ontario College of Art & Design

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STRATEGIC FORESIGHT AND INNOVATION

Description
The Master of Design in Strategic Foresight and Innovation integrates knowledge and methodology from a number of disciplines: design, business, science and technology, and the social sciences. Design provides the crucial link between these areas, drawing on its essential competencies of design thinking, strategic and iterative methodology, and a deep commitment to understanding human needs, wants and behaviour. Through holistic thinking in a co-creative environment, the designer, the business person, the social scientist and the engineer will develop together the skills required for true socio-technological innovation.

The Master of Design in Strategic Foresight and Innovation will enable students to:

  • Explore and test new methods of organization, creation and production.
  • Develop strategic, innovative and anticipatory solutions (strategic foresight) and implementation plans for design, business or policy innovations, or for organizational or infrastructural change.
  • Navigate complex problems through the study of systems theory and the analysis of relevant systems including ecological, social, economic and political organizations.
  • Develop an ethical sensibility that promotes socially and ecologically sound responses to complex global issues.
Guide

Required Courses and Timeline
Curriculum: 45 credits

The MDes in Strategic Foresight and Innovation is a part-time program. In order to support the needs of students who may be working full or part time while completing the program, courses will be clustered and/or offered in the evening. The program also offers some flexibility in course sequencing, and students may (with the approval of the Graduate Program Director and pending the availability of courses) follow a different sequence than that indicated below.

Year One Year Two
Fall semester (6 credits)

SFIN 6B01: Business and Design Thinking (3)
SFIN 6B03: The Human Factor (3)
Fall semester (6 credits)

SFIN 6C02: Foresight and Innovation Studio (6)
Winter semester (9 credits)

SFIN 6C01: Research Methodologies (6)
SFIN 6B02: Human Systems (3)
Winter semester (6 credits)

SFIN 6B06: Strategic Communications (3)
SFIN 6B07: Leadership Excellence (3)
Summer semester (6 credits)

SFIN 6B05: Business Modeling and Policy Innovation (3)
SFIN 6B04: Non-human Systems (3)
Summer semester (12 credits)

SFIN 6E01: Major Project (12)


Oral Defence/Major Project
Students will be mentored by a Principal Supervisor and critiqued and evaluated by an Advisory Committee consisting of the Principal Supervisor plus two additional members, one of whom may be external to the university. Students are required to defend their major project to a committee comprising the Program Director, the student’s three member Advisory Committee and an external examiner (specialist from outside OCAD, normally from another university or a specialist professional).

Last Modified:1/24/2012 12:57:22 PM