At USC Lancaster, art professor Sahar Aghasafari is reshaping what it means to teach art and design in the 21st century. Her classroom serves as a creative laboratory where instruction meets innovation —a space where technology, identity and interdisciplinary exploration converge.
Her approach is hands-on and student-centered. In her ARTE 260 course, students develop arts-based research posters that allow them to blend personal narrative with scholarly work.
“Students learn the importance their academic studies have on understanding their own lives, and they are able to share this with their fellow students through their posters,” David Roberts, interim associate dean of academic and student affairs and philosophy professor at USC Lancaster, wrote in recommending Aghasafari for a Garnet Apple teaching award.
Since joining USC Lancaster in 2022, Aghasafari has developed the campus’s graphic design program from the ground up. Now in her third year, she continues to expand the program by offering three main courses—design technology and concepts and typographic design I and II —structured to help students build their graphic design skills each semester.
“Having built this core foundation for the program and by growing the number of students in this progression, she is then able to offer the courses related to her interests in STEAM and the interdisciplinary relationships between the arts and sciences,” Roberts says.
In a special topics class in art education focused on integrating science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics, students use digital storytelling and new media arts to explain chemistry concepts like molecular isomers in a project called “Isomer Stories.”
“In the classroom, I find purpose in helping students explore their identities, develop their creative voices and apply their skills in innovative ways. Teaching allows me to support their growth both academically and personally, and I learn from them in return.”
These assignments encourage students to reflect, communicate and experiment, building skills essential for both academic success and personal development. Based on positive outcomes and student feedback, Aghasafari received approval through Palmetto College to offer this class as an online STEAM education course, which she teaches to a broader student population across the USC system.
“I’m committed to creating educational experiences that are inclusive, engaging and relevant to students’ lives,” she says. “Through media arts, digital tools and storytelling, I help students connect complex ideas to the world around them.”
Aghasafari has also worked with chemistry professor Li Cai on the ChemArtistry and InterArtistry projects. These initiatives fuse chemistry with media arts and artificial intelligence, helping students engage with science in fresh and meaningful ways. The projects have earned national and international attention, with presentations at conferences in the U.S., the United Kingdom, Nepal, Turkey and Spain.
“She’s not only transforming STEM education through art, she’s making it more inclusive and accessible,” Cai wrote in his recommendation of Aghasafari for the Garnet Apple award.
Aghasafari began her academic life in the fields of science and math, following the path of most members of her family, who come from engineering and scientific backgrounds. But she also had a passion for art and found a way to bring the two together.
“While my family focused on technical fields, I was drawn to creativity and visual expression,” she says. “Eventually, I chose to follow that passion and became the only one in my family to pursue art professionally. That journey shaped my interdisciplinary perspective and continues to influence my teaching and research.
“In the classroom, I find purpose in helping students explore their identities, develop their creative voices and apply their skills in innovative ways. Teaching allows me to support their growth both academically and personally, and I learn from them in return.”