DESIGNER + EDUCATOR + WRITER
CLEVELAND, OHIO
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Sarah Rutherford
Sarah Rutherford is a design educator at Cleveland State University and a former President of AIGA Cleveland. She researches, writes, and speaks about pedagogy and learning in higher education. An expert in student-centered curriculum, Sarah's client list includes the Cooper Hewitt Museum and the University of Arkansas School of Art. She is currently working on a book on college teaching that helps faculty employ critical pedagogy to transform their mindset and classrooms to center students.
Education
Kent State University, Kent, OH
Master of Fine Arts, Visual Communication Design
Truman State University, Kirksville, MO
Bachelor of Fine Arts, Visual Communication
Bachelor of Arts, English
Recognition
CSU Distinguished Faculty Award for Teaching
CSU College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences Excellence in Teaching Award
CSU Undergraduate Summer Research Award
CSCA Creative Best Student Award of Excellence
CSU 53rd Annual Student Show President’s Award
GDUSA 61st American Package Design Awards Student category
Cleveland American Advertising Awards Student work: Gold Award
Recent work and enagements
2026 OE Global Conference Cambrige, MA
Feminist Pedagogy as Liberatory Practice, with Alison Place, Jeff Kasper, Heather Snyder Quinn, and Ayako Takase
2026 Essay: Guiding Principles for Inclusive Design Values
The Growing Disconnect Between Education and Employment, with Zachary Vernon
2025 Greater Cincinnati Collegiate Connection (GC3)
Power Sharing: An Antidote to Disengaged, Unmotivated Students
2025 Lilly Teaching for Active and Engaged Learning Conference San Diego, CA
Promoting Student Accountability Through Collaboration and Linked Grades, with Tatiana Gracyk
2024 Case Study: Cleveland Teaching Collaborative
Addressing Disengagement and Promoting Student Agency Through Contract Grading
2024 The Teaching Professor Annual Conference New Orleans, LA
Pre-conference workshop: De-centering the Instructor: Addressing Disengagement by Sharing Power with Students
2024 The Teaching Professor Annual Conference New Orleans, LA
Power Sharing: An Antidote to Disengaged, Unmotivated Students
2024 AAC&U Conference on General Education, Pedagogy, and Assessment Providence, RI
Sharing power to challenge an instructor-centered mentality
2024 The 16th annual Transforming the Teaching & Learning Environment Conference
De-centering the Instructor: Addressing Disengagement by Sharing Power with Students
Invited as one of the top-reviewed presenters of 2023 at US higher education teaching conferences
2023 The Teaching Professor Annual Conference New Orleans, LA
De-centering the Instructor: Addressing Disengagement by Sharing Power with Students