Until the recent publication of Steven Heller's The Education of an E-Designer (reviewed here), books on design education for the digital era have been hard to find. That is about to change.

Mr. Heller is working on a new book called Teaching Design that is similar in concept to our own OpenSourceEdu section. According to a recent announcement, the book will be

comprised ONLY of syllabi from undergrad and graduate programs from colleges and art/design schools around the country and abroad. The purpose is to share teaching methods, concepts, and projects so that veteran and neophyte teachers will be able to learn from others and perhaps adapt aspects of particular programs.

Mr. Heller has invited educators to participate by sending him their course materials. Contact him [stefano@nytimes.com] for preferred format/guidelines and deadlines.

Help, Part 2
In a similar vein, OnWard Press has announced The Digital Designer: 101 Graphic Design Projects for Print, the Web, Multimedia, and Motion Graphics, to be publishing in Spring 2002. Each of the projects will include a description of the design problem, and shows a variety of student solutions from design schools around the country.

Author Stephen Pite has invited design instructors and students to contribute projects to be considered for publication in the book. Deadline for submissions is January 2002.

Season's greetings
As 2001 winds down (all that Millenium fuss seems so far away), I'm trying to find the words for a holiday greeting. Since Sept. 11 the situation in the United States and the world has gone from immediate crisis to on-going tension, and I'm afraid that's not going to change anytime soon.

Ironic, isn't it, that the part of the world where several of the world's major faiths have their roots is also the heart of the conflict?

Looking outside my window I see the first snow of the year, just a dusting on the roof next door, a reminder that we're headed into winter. We're headed into a new year. Eventually the grass will be green again and flowers will bloom. Maybe the world will eventually begin to heal and blossom too.

Best wishes to you and yours, with hopes for a kinder year ahead.

-Al Wasco, December 20, 2001