SDSU Art and Design Professor to Receive Honorary Doctoral Degree
Kim Stringfellow, associate professor of multimedia, will receive an honorary doctoral degree from Claremont Graduate University (CGU), the oldest, graduate-only research university in the United States, at the university’s 91st commencement ceremony this May.
Stringfellow, who holds an MFA in Art and Technology from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago,
was selected for the honorary degree because she is deemed an innovator and pioneer in her field, as well as an inspiration to CGU graduates and to the broader community. This year’s commencement theme -- Artistic Practice, Design, and Innovation -- emphasizes how the arts and creative endeavors help reframe intellectual transformations that result from boundary-crossing, creative, socially conscious work. According to CGU, Stringfellow’s “perspective and contributions have profoundly shaped and benefited our world and her creative, connective spirit is a model for Claremont and beyond.”
“Personally and professionally this is quite an honor,” said Stringfellow, especially because it confirms that my research into regional landscapes, local culture, environmental repercussions of human development are considered and of importance to regional academics that I admire. Professionally, this will open doors in terms of future fellowships that require a PhD to apply,” said Stringfellow.
Kim Stringfellow has been a faculty member in San Diego State’s University's School of Art & Design since 2001.
As an artist, educator, writer and independent curator based in Joshua Tree, CA, Stringfellow has published books of text and photographs tracing the history of two desert phenomena—the Salton Sea ecosystem and an area near Joshua Tree National Park, where abandoned shacks mark one of the last tracts of land in the United States to be opened for homesteaders. Stringfellow, along with several other contributors, also created The Mojave Project which featured up to 50 multimedia installments showcasing the desert and its communities, presented through audio, video and archival imagery. The Mojave Project was funded by the California Council for Humanities in partnership with the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Stringfellow’s artistic work bridges cultural geography, public practice and experimental documentary into creative, socially engaged transmedia experiences that combine writing, photography, audio, video, installation, mapping and community engagement. Her projects explore history of place while also examining how the landscapes we inhabit are culturally constructed. Particularly, Stringfellow is interested in the environmental repercussions of human presence and occupation within these spaces. By focusing on distinct subjects, communities or regions, Stringfellow attempts to foster a discussion of complex, interrelated issues for each site while attempting to expose human values and political agendas that form our collective understanding of these places.
Stringfellow will receive her degree at the Claremont Graduate University’s 91st commencement ceremony on May 12, 2018.
The content within this article has been edited by Lizbeth Persons.
