The interdisciplinary Master in Design Studies (MDes) program offers four domains, or areas of focus: Ecologies, Narratives, Publics, and Mediums, each of which is led by a GSD faculty member. There are upcoming changes in two of the domain leadership roles.
Karen Lee Bar-Sinai, assistant professor of landscape architecture, succeeds Alex Wall, design critic in landscape architecture, as the Ecologies domain head, while Malkit Shoshan, design critic in urban planning and design, will serve as Publics domain head while the current head, Diane Davis , Charles Dyer Norton Professor of Regional Planning and Urbanism, is on sabbatical.
“We are thrilled to have Karen Lee Bar-Sinai join the GSD’s Master in Design Studies program beginning in Fall 2026,” said Charles Waldheim, John E. Irving Professor of Landscape Architecture, who co-directs the MDes program with K. Michael Hays, Eliot Noyes Professor of Architectural Theory. “Dr. Bar-Sinai brings an international reputation for innovative research and teaching in material ecologies and technologies,” Waldheim continued. “Many thanks to Alex Wall on his retirement following years of extraordinary contributions to the MDes Program and most recently as Domain Head in Ecologies.”
“I am honored to begin my role as head of the MDes Ecologies Domain, a track that is more relevant than ever,” said Bar-Sinai. “I am excited to work with our students—future design researchers and leaders—to envision new ways to design beyond objects, through systems, and within the broadest possible context of our environment.”
Shoshan, too, emphasized the relevance of the MDes Publics program in the context of our current era: “MDes Publics approaches design as a dynamic, relational agent of change. By collaborating across disciplines, we develop processes and visions that tangibly improve our lived environment—an approach especially relevant in a time of extremes, including deep social inequalities, isolationism, rapid technological advancement, climate crisis, and biodiversity loss.”
She added that she is honored to step in and direct the Publics domain this year on the heels of the great leadership of Davis and Toni L. Griffin, professor in practice of urban planning.