With MBA/MA program, Johns Hopkins and MICA get creative

The left-brain right-brain divide is bunk. And a Baltimore graduate program is celebrating that.
“We have people who have worked in the military, nonprofits, startups, started their own company, worked for huge corporations,” said Julie Buisson, a graduate assistant with the Design Leadership MBA/MA program from Johns Hopkins University’s Carey Business School and the Maryland Institute College of Art.
“Each is attempting to mold their unique area of interest by merging two fields and infusing creative, design processes to change the status quo,” Buisson added.
Carey and MICA teamed up in the Fall of 2012. The unique program graduated its first cohort in March 2014.
The 20-month graduate program is rooted in the design thinking movement, which applies the cognitive skills that designers use during the creative process to other fields.
Likewise, the joint-degree program pushes its students to solve problems through cross-discipline collaboration. It’s this type of collaboration that has helped students develop and lead projects like Design For America’s Baltimore studio and the student-led Innovation Factory at JHU.
“Beyond simple demographics is the diversity that lies in our professional and educational interests,” said Buisson.
There’s room for the program to grow and evolve. Members of the current class are organizing a trip to New York to visit various companies.