FARM's Sponsorship Appeal

Corporate sponsorships are often used by educational institutions as an alternate stream of revenue. Proponents claim that it allows them to keep classes running and that the corporations rarely get involved in defining curriculum. Critics contend that it compromises the integrity of the curriculum and ends up serving as an endorsement for products and services. In some cases the corporations also ask for the rights to the intellectual property produced by the students in the class.FARM (Future Action Reclamation Mob) began as Robyn Waxman's MFA thesis project. The project is an alternative form of non-violent protest and reclaims public space to build community, provides services for underserved and transient populations, and rehabilitates toxic land. During the project Kraft/Triscuit contacted Waxman through a nonprofit urban farm organization. They wanted to corporately sponsor the San Francisco FARM so they could use it for advertising... to show their engagement in ‘humanitarian’ projects. In exchange they would give them soil, seeds, and a part time gardener. Waxman said this would have been the cheapest advertising opportunity money could buy—especially since they get dirt, seeds and a workforce via donations and volunteering. After brief consideration, Waxman responded by letting them know exactly how she felt about a company that peddles diabetic-causing food to (mostly) children wanting to associate themselves with an organic urban farm... as if they actually built it.Where do you weigh in on corporate sponsorships? Do you think there's a place for them in education?

Teaching Social Responsibility: "Water for India"

In January 2009, Hartford Art School Professor Natacha Poggio and a team of six art and design students traveled to Abheypur, India to implement the “Water for India” sanitation campaign as partners to the work of the “Engineers Without Borders” Student Chapter at the University of Hartford.“Water for India” aims to convey the importance of cleanliness, sharing, and respect for water resources through a painted mural at the girls’ primary school, coloring books with sanitation tips, and t-shirts featuring the logo.What began as an assignment in the Spring of 2008 for a class called “Issues in Design” grew into an ongoing effort after receiving feedback from Abheypur’s villagers. Since the start of the project, the students worked collaboratively on this wide-reaching project with other disciplines, team members and cultures and in 2009 the "Water for India" campaign placed third in the AIGA (Re)design Awards.The students and Professor Poggio have continued using design as a way to educate and empower people. The social consciousness and awareness of those involved grew through the process of research and learning to design for a more universal audience. The mission was extended in the next session of “Issues in Design” where the students worked on a new wellness campaign designing “kangas” (traditional cotton garments that Sub-Saharan women wear) for local communities in the Lake Victoria region of Kenya.Professor Poggio continues to teach “Issues in Design” along with a special topics class called “Design Global Change” (DGC) which evolved into an organization which focuses on global design projects.Where else do you think opportunities exist to use design to teach social responsibility?