The University of Kansas School of Design is the heart of the KU campus. The University of Kansas is located in Lawrence, Kansas, a small college town 40 miles west of Kansas City. The Department of Design is located within the KU College of Architecture and Design.
“The Design Department prepares animators, illustrators, experience designers, graphic designers, marketing creatives, motion designers, photographers, product designers, UX/UI developers, and other interdisciplinary communicators to grow as innovative practitioners and socially engaged leaders in an ever-changing professional field.
“The Department of Design offers a four-year, 120-credit-hour BFA degree in Design, including programs in animation, illustration, industrial design, interaction design, and visual communication design. All design students take core courses in the first semester and courses in their chosen major from the second semester.
“The department offers minors in design, photography and design entrepreneurship and a certificate in book arts.
“The department also offers two graduate programs in design: a Master’s in Interaction and User Experience Design and a Master’s in Management and Strategy.
“Design students have access to studio space, computer labs, typography labs, RISO labs, an extensive photography area and a digital fabrication lab. Students can gain insights from lectures and workshops by world-renowned designers, collaborations with industry partners, opportunities to participate in study abroad programs (short-term: Italy, London, Paris, Miami, Havana; semester: Germany, Spain) and internships in the US and abroad. “Design students are encouraged to participate in student organizations (Black Creatives Collective, NOMAS, AIGA). Students lead the planning, design and production of the annual KU Design Week and the biannual KIOSK Magazine. Students have the opportunity to exhibit their work in the Edgar Heap of Birds Family Gallery in Chalmers Hall and numerous gallery spaces on campus.
“The University of Kansas has been an accredited member of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD) since 1968.
“Recently, the KU Graduate School of Architecture and Design has collaborated with Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) to develop a new future for its campus presence.”
The University of Kansas announced Friday that it had terminated the employment of a lecturer after he was caught on video “making highly inappropriate comments during class that suggested violence against individuals based on his personal views.”
University officials did not release the lecturer’s name, but the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) identified him as Philip Lowcock. He is a lecturer in health, sports and exercise science who is said to have made the offhand remark during a class that “men who don’t want women should seek women out.” I would vote for him if he were elected president and he should be shot. As of Friday, Lowcock’s profile page no longer exists on the university’s website.
When asked if Lowcock had been fired or had voluntarily left the university, a university spokesperson responded by email, “This is a personnel matter that the university cannot discuss,” and Lowcock could not be reached within the higher education institution on Friday.
On Wednesday, the conservative TikTok Liberal Party said it would refuse to vote for a potential female president because it believes women are not smart enough to be president.
The man in the 30-minute video said: “You clearly don’t understand how the world works.” Shortly after, he added: “Please remove that from the recording.” I don’t want my deans to hear that I said that.”
Shortly after the video was released, the university announced that it had placed the lecturer on administrative leave for making “inappropriate references to violence.”
The lecturer apologized, saying, “I am very sorry and deeply sorry that this has happened.” “His intention was to highlight his commitment to women’s rights and equality, and he recognizes that he has done a very poor job in that regard.”
Graham Piro, a faculty fellow in legal advocacy at FIRE, said Friday that “the university will be hearing from us shortly… This seems like a pretty blatant misinterpretation of the First Amendment.”
Whether Lowcock resigns or is fired, Piro said the situation is alarming. Piro said the video makes it sound like Lowcock is just making an exaggerated joke and not making “real threats” that are not protected by the First Amendment.
Anita Levy, senior program director for academic freedom, tenure and governance at the American Association of University Professors, also said she did not know whether Lowcock had been fired. But she said, “he is entitled to the full range of procedural protections.”
Not everyone was unhappy on Friday. Kansas Republican Sen. Roger Marshall, who called for Lowcock’s removal on Wednesday, posted to those who don’t plan to vote that Kamala Harris is no longer employed at KU.
“We fully support the academic freedom of our teachers in their instruction,” Kansas State President Barb Bickelmeyer said in a campus statement Friday. But academic freedom is not a license for violence like the one we saw in the video. The University and our broader society must continue to address issues of freedom of expression, consideration and respect for others, and civic engagement,” Bickelmeyer said. “The world is what we make it. Please use this unfortunate incident as an opportunity to reflect on these issues and the role each of us plays in the academic community.”