Felicia Francine Dean is an Assistant Professor in the School of Interior Architecture at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Her research addresses analog and digital craft, upholstered systems, identity and the creative process, material experimentation, and process driven design. She is working on a new body of work which focuses the interplay of structural and soft systems through the translation of fashion design volumetric sewing techniques. Felicia integrates her specializations into the studio courses she teaches by having students apply diverse approaches to material, form and process explorations during design development. 

Education 

Master of Fine Arts in Interior Architecture, Furniture Design Concentration, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, NC (UNCG), 2014 

Diploma in Furniture Upholstery & Certificate in Computer Aided Drafting, Guilford Technical Community College at High Point and Greensboro, NC (GTCC), 2008 

Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art, Florida State University at Tallahassee, FL, 2002 

Expertise & Interests 

Cross-disciplinary research and collaboration between Design, Art, & Craft 

Identity and the Creative Process 

Integration of textile surface design techniques with digital fabrication 

Sculptural forms of fabric and how they are translated from the physical to the digital and back 

Experimentation of traditional and non-traditional materials in the development and making processes of Design & Art 

Material and Process Driven Design 

Balancing and merging processes of craft, art, design, through handmade and digital fabrication processes