Brief Biography: A native of Lake City, MN, Julie has spent half of her career as an interior design practitioner and is an NCIDQ and Wisconsin Registered Interior Designer. She has been involved in higher education since first teaching as an adjunct professor at UW-Stout from 2001-03 and 2006-08 while pursuing her Masters and PhD at the U of MN. She is now a tenured associate professor in the Department of Design and Program Director for the Master of Fine Arts in Design graduate program in the School of Art and Design.
Teaching Interests: Interior Design courses in lighting design, business practices, ethics, materials, finishes, codes, and specifications. Foundational design course in design theories and thinking. Graduate design courses in ethics, pre-thesis development, and thesis advising.
Research Interests: Examining the learning, motivation, expectations, engagement, and critical thinking of design students by developing innovative teaching methods; developing engaging teaching strategies for professional ethics; investigating cognitive learning styles within the context of the interior design profession, including the interior design practitioner and the interior design student; exploring lighting design pedagogy in polytechnic universities.
Professional Interests: Design education including critical thinking, adult learning strategies, and lighting design.