Interior Design

About this opportunity

The Interior Design concentration addresses the discovery and inquiry into how people use and perceive space. The emphasis is on collaborative and hands-on learning experiences created in the stimulating setting of a multi-disciplinary school. Our comprehensive curriculum includes the study of history, theory, communication materials, lighting, construction methods, technology, and other topics pertinent in industry. All of this ensures a solid education, which leads to the acquisition of internships and full-time employment in prestigious architecture and design firms.
Any Barrett student who is considering majoring or minoring in Interior Design should contact the lead FHA.

Thesis

You have two options for your final thesis/creative project in interior design.

Option 1:

In Interior Design you have two options for honors thesis/creative project.

1- In INT 464 OR 465 Studios: In this option you take your final Interior Design Studio offered in the fall or spring of your senior year and you enter into a contract with your Studio Instructor and the Design School Barrett Honors Faculty Advisor to do work beyond the scope of the studio geared toward a research topic of your choosing. For example, if you are interested in “Sustainability in Interior Design”, you would focus on that research area in the Studio while still completing all the requirements of the studio as your instructor advises. During the first week of the spring semester (or the end of the fall semester) you meet with the Studio Instructor (who will act as your Thesis/Creative Project Director*) and the Design School Barrett Honors Faculty Advisor to plan your course of study, deadlines, and deliverables for the Honors thesis/creative Project. If the instructor is a Faculty Associate they will be a reader and the thesis/creative project Director must be an Interior Design faculty member. You will propose to work on your design project for the studio at a much deeper and more resolved level than the other studio members, and the research lens through which you look at the studio problem would be Sustainability and its application in Interior Design. Thus, you would do all the design work required for the studio while also integrating/applying your research interests to the project. Next, you fill out an honors contract form online and list the Studio Instructor as the Instructor for the course. Your honors contract should clearly outline each of the issues that you and your instructor and/or thesis/creative Director agree will be met in the studio. This should include methodology, research, timeline, deliverables, and anything else that your Director asks for in the contract. This must be agreed upon in writing and by email before you fill out your contract. You and your instructor must have an email exchange to prove that they agreed upon the final draft of the honors contract. The written portion of your honors thesis/creative project is a document that illustrates an understanding of the research topic and current debates and issues surrounding it within your discipline, your methodology for integrating and applying the topic within your studio project, a conclusion as to the result of the application of the research in the design project, case studies, a review of literature, a bibliography, and illustrations. It is normally no less than 25 pages of text, not including a literature review, bibliography, and illustrations. The text can integrate your design solutions into the document as support for the argument of your thesis. *Your Thesis Director is normally the design studio instructor and the second reader is usually the Design School Barrett Faculty Honors Advisor, however, you can select other readers. If the Studio Instructor is not a Faculty Member (i.e. they are a Faculty Associate), your thesis/creative project Director must be either the Barrett Faculty Honors Advisor or another Faculty Member who will monitor and advise you to make sure that you are meeting both the criteria of the Honors Thesis and the Final Studio.

Option 2: You can also decide to do a parallel comprehensive research project. If you decide to do so, you still need to complete the final Interior Design Studio in the spring at the same time as you do a separate Honors Thesis course with a Thesis/Creative Director.
When doing a parallel comprehensive project, you need to start working on your topic and thesis in the fall of the senior year with your Thesis/Creative Project Director and and plan your course of study, deadlines, and deliverables. This includes a written document that illustrates an understanding of the research topic and current debates and issues surrounding it within interior design, a review of literature, your methodology for researching the topic, case studies, a conclusion as to the potential application of the research in your career or for the community, a bibliography, and illustrations. It is normally no less than 25 pages of text, not including literature review, bibliography, and illustrations. The text can integrate design strategies or criteria into the document as support for the argument of your thesis.

Academic Preparation

Timeline prior to the thesis/creative project

Freshman Year:
Enjoy college and classes in your discipline and in the Honors College and meet with your Faculty Honors Advisor early in the Fall and Spring Semesters.
In the spring of your freshman year begin to ask yourself questions such as:

• What am I passionate about?
• What local/global questions and issues might I use design to help answer and solve?
• What do I know a lot about or What do I want to know more about?
• What types of books, designs, issues, stories, etc. am I usually drawn to?

Sophomore Year
Meet with your Honors Faculty Advisor early in the Fall and Spring Semesters.
In the spring of your sophomore year you should:

• Start a journal dedicated to honors thesis/creative project.
• Write weekly in your journal about your ideas for thesis, the things you know about your topics, the things you don’t know about your topics, goals you are setting for yourself.
• Ask your Faculty Honors Advisor which classes to take that deal with your topic, or which other professors might be experts in the topic that you are interested in and make an appointment to go and meet with those professors.
• Look at examples of previous thesis: https://barretthonors.asu.edu/thesis/examples

Recommended Timeline

Junior Year
This is the year that you get serious about your Thesis/Creative Project.

• You will enroll in INT 492 (required by the Honors College for Thesis/Creative Project) for the SPRING of your junior year. This is the class where you work on your proposal for your honors thesis with the Faculty Honors Advisor.
• If you are thinking of doing a parallel project (option 2), meet with a potential Thesis/Creative Project Director (or a few of them) to see if they are available and interested in your topic and if they have recommendations on the methodology or literature to consult.

Senior Year

• Early in the fall semester, submit to Barrett your thesis prospectus confirming your topic, Thesis/Creative Project Director, and timeline: https://barretthonors.asu.edu/thesis/prospectus
• If option 2: During the fall and spring semesters, work on developing your comprehensive project according to the timeline developed with your director.
• If option 1: end of fall or beginning of spring semester: meet with your studio instructor and Faculty Honors Advisor to confirm topic, timeline, and deliverables for your Thesis/Creative Project.
• For both options: at the beginning of the spring semester: confirm your defense date: https://barretthonors.asu.edu/thesis/defense

Other Honors Opportunities

Many instructors in the Interior Design program offer case-by-case honors enrichment contracts in their courses. Feel free to ask any of them at the beginning of the semester if you feel the topic is relevant to your own interests and thesis topic. 

There are also special opportunities for non-course-related honors enrichment contracts, such as helping with organizing the materials resource library.
Please discuss this with your Faculty Honors Advisor at the beginning of every semester.