Stephanie Munson Tharp
Associate Professor
Area Coordinator
Industrial Design
snmunson@uic.edu

Spring 2013 Courses


Biography:

Stephanie Munson Tharp is a designer who creates objects with an interest in the physical substance as well as the substantiveness of the designed objects. She hopes to connect with people beyond mere utility in addressing important contemporary psychological-, sociological, and ideological-concerns. She engages in design explorations that aren’t driven by commercial constraints, but sometimes might be capable of existing within the market. Of special attention is the domestic sphere — a space in which artifacts have a particular capacity for intimate engagement with individuals — with some recent prevalent themes including family, environmental ecology, and technology.

Stephanie Munson Tharp received her MID in Industrial Design from The Rhode Island School of Design and her BS in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Michigan. Her awards include Future Furniture Competition Winner from Interior Design Magazine, 2006; Best in Show from Design Within Reach Modern+Design+Function Chicago Furniture Now Competition, 2006 and 2004. She has lectured and presented at Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana in Mexico City, Design MX: Envisioning Design for the 21st Century in Mexico City, International Engineering and Product Design Education Conference in Scotland, Southern Yangtze University’s School of Design in China, and The IDSA National Education Conference in California. She has received grants from Motorola, The Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children (CLOCC), and The OVCR Arts, Architecture and Humanities Award at The University of Illinois at Chicago.

Stephanie Munson Tharp’s publications include Industrial Design Gradu­ate Education: Identity Finding with Tunstall, Elizabeth (Dori). Proceedings: IDSA National Education Confer­ence, 2006; Tracking the Flow: Evaluating the Use of Process Mapping and Visual Storyboarding in the Classroom with Kevin Reeder. Proceed­ings: IDSA National Education Conference, 2006; Designerly Research—Infor­mation vs. Inspiration with Bruce M. Tharp in Educating Designers for a Global Context? 2006; Interview in Innovation, the journal of IDSA, 2006; The Influences of Computing Technologies on Prod­ucts and Product Design Education, IDSA National Education Conference Proceedings, 2004; and The Role of Computing Technologies in Product Design Education, International Engineering and Product Design Education Conference Proceedings, 2004. She has exhibited her work at The Betty Rymer Gallery at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, The HauteGreen Sustainability Show in Brooklyn, NY, and the Design Within Reach Showroom in Chicago. Her work has been reviewed in Interior Design Magazine, The Chicago Reader, RES Magazine, and the Chicago Tribune.


[Student Projects]