Assistant Professor Meghan Mick’s Conducts Outdoor Classroom Research
The Interior Architecture and Design Department’s faculty provide students a wide array of expertise in interior design, architecture, history and other related areas. A new and wonderful addition are the concepts of landscape architecture and graphics expertise provided by Assistant Professor Meghan Mick, who began her tenure-track position in Fall of 2020. Her complementary knowledge base positions Ms. Mick to challenge the traditional boundaries of outside-inside, bringing the opportunities of the natural world as an enhancing and healthful consideration to built space teaching and research. An outgrowth of this orientation is Ms. Mick’s research interest in outdoor classroom spaces. Throughout the Fall Semester, she observed a number of spaces that had potential for activities beyond their current programming. With FSU having such beautiful greens on campus as well as plentiful outdoor covered areas with seating, there are abundant spaces that are excellent for outdoor classroom research.
Meghan Mick comes to Florida State University with a diverse background in design practice. After receiving her Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from Vanderbilt University, she worked in graphic design at a large advertising agency for five years in Raleigh, North Carolina. Her interest in natural science and love of design led her to graduate school at the College of Design at NC State University for a Masters’ degree in Landscape Architecture. Since that time, she has worked in the practice with a focus on connecting people to nature and place through design. Mick has taught Communication Graphics, Design Fundamentals I, and currently teaches Principles of Sustainable Design and Social & Psychological Aspects of Design. Her research interests include the role of Environmental Graphics in place making and biophilic design to further connect indoor and outdoor environments for the health and well-being of people and the natural world.
“I am amazed at the resources and opportunities in the IA&D department, College of Fine Arts, and FSU as a whole. Research and service embody a significant portion of my goals that were missing in professional practice, and I’ve always loved to teach. The energy and curiosity that can be found in a university setting cannot be matched. Now I can utilize my practice experience by working with my colleagues and students to further investigate how design can benefit both people and the environment, states Mick.”
In the time of Covid-19, students and professors have been successful in adapting to new learning environments, whether they be online or outdoors. It has been proven that the outdoor classroom has an array of benefits, from boosting creativity to improving upon physical heath. Professor Mick hopes in the future that her research will allow more people to get out into the fresh air and utilize those outdoor spaces on campus.
“IA&D does an excellent job of helping students look at the creation of spaces as a way to improve lives. Ideally, I hope that we can expand this notion to further connect people to place and to each other in a way that is inherently sustainable for our world, states Mick.”