Amir Berbić reflects on his refugee experience and the power of design to shape identity, foster resilience, and build community, and discusses his work as a designer, educator and dean of VCUarts Qatar.
This episode also features guest Christiana Lafazani, associate dean for faculty affairs and research at VCUarts.
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About Amir Berbić
Amir Berbić is a graphic designer who works on questions surrounding identities of place. He collaborates on projects with cultural organizations, arts institutions, and publishers, with commissions that range from print design to three-dimensional typography to environmental graphics.
Prior to becoming dean of VCUarts in Qatar in 2019, he was a tenured professor and chair of Graphic Design at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), where he also served as associate dean at the UIC College of Architecture, Design and the Arts, and as acting director of the UIC School of Design. Berbić was on the AIGA Chicago Board of Directors, serving as Vice President and Co-Chair of Education from 2015–2018. From 2004 to 2014, he was a faculty member at the American University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates.
Born in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Berbić moved to Chicago in the 1990s, where he completed his design education and began a career in editorial design and publishing. He holds a B.F.A. in Graphic Design from UIC, and an M.F.A. in Visual Communication from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
His works have featured in numerous academic and professional publications, conferences, and exhibitions, including Design Issues, Visual Communication, Print, Graphis, Wallpaper, the AIGA Design Educators Conference, TypeCon, the Society of Typographic Arts, ICOGRADA, the World Design Summit and Salone del Mobile in Milan. His work is included in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.
About Christiana Lafazani
Christiana Lafazani serves as associate dean for faculty affairs and research at VCUarts. She is also associate professor in the Department of Interior Design, where she previously held the positions of department chair and graduate program director. Since joining the VCUarts faculty in 2003, Lafazani has played a significant role in both departmental leadership and broader academic administration. She was appointed to her current role in 2019.
Lafazani brings extensive experience to her work as both a practicing designer and academic. Prior to her academic appointment, she held positions in the design industry, including work with an architecture and design firm specializing in corporate interiors, a role as prototype designer for a national electronics retailer and as a design manager for an office furniture manufacturer.
Her research explores the intersection of professional practice and design pedagogy within the discipline of interior design. Specific areas of focus include the integration of emerging technologies into student work while supporting individual artistic expression, and the incorporation of sustainable practices in both design education and professional application. More recently, her scholarship has shifted toward design strategies that support neurodiverse populations, particularly adults with autism spectrum disorder.
Lafazani holds an M.F.A. in Interior Environments from Virginia Commonwealth University and a B.S. in Interior Design from James Madison University.
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VCUarts Uncharted is recorded in the Community Media Center in the Institute for Contemporary Art at VCU. Music by Felipe Leitão.
For more information, visit arts.vcu.edu/uncharted.
