Christopher Ransom

My mission in teaching has been to be in service to the medium and to those I have been entrusted to work with in the process of discovery. It has been my experience that the more I can teach out of this spirit of service, the more clearly I can discriminate and discern the particular truths presented in a very complex set of alternatives or solutions. This stance has allowed me to be more in tune to the individual character of each of my students and, as a result, hopefully be more successful in bringing forth the unique qualities that they alone might bring to a given solution. This is a very freeing (and rewarding) experience.

Associate Professor, Christopher Ransom completed a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Texas at Austin in 1975, a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design at the Philadelphia College of Art in 1982 and a Master of Fine Arts in Photography at the University of Delaware in 1993. He has taught at the University of the Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Senior Lecturer, Graphic Design Department) and the University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware (Assistant Professor, Art Department). He joined the faculty at Kent State in 1996.Ransom has maintained a freelance business; Christopher Ransom Design Ltd. since 1984 and has worked as a designer for: Katz-Wheeler Design, Cope-Linder Associates Architects, Allemann, Almquist + Jones Inc. and Tom Janicz Design Group, Inc., in Philadelphia. Chris has specialized in Identity Programs involving a wide range of corporate and institutional clients and has earned multiple certificates of excellence from AIGA/Philadelphia.His work has been published in Graphis, Print and Architecture Magazine. In addition to numerous private collections, his photographs are represented in; The Library of Congress, The National Trust for Historic Preservation, The Center for Photography at Woodstock, and The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

Ransom has developed typographic and design curriculum for freshman, sophomore and senior level VCD classes and, more recently, has been instrumental in the design and implementation of the new Bachelor of Science degree program in Photo-Illustration. The program earned accreditation from National Association of Schools of Art and Design in the spring of 2013. He is an on-going contributor to the international web-site, Designing with Type, see www.designingwithtype.com. (To view, select: Projects, World-Wide Schools, North America, Kent State.) Chris has taught the following courses: VCD/Freshman Orientation, Basic Studio Skills, Introduction to Graphic Design, Introduction to VCD 2, Introduction to Typography, Photography (Digital), Photography (Analog), Sophomore Entrance Exam/Photography, Introduction to Typography (Photo and GD majors), Photography 2, Graphic Design 1, Internship 1/Photo-Illustration, Internship 2/Photo-Illustration, Junior Review/Photography, PhotoGraphics, Advanced Photography, Professional Portfolio/Photography, Photographic Project, Practicum in Photography, TypoPhoto, TypoPhoto (Graduate), Corporate Identity, Corporate Identity (Graduate). 

Ransom has twice been a finalist for the prestigious campus-wide, Distinguished Teaching Award; 2011 and 2015.

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