Associate Professor Lucy Ganje has been teaching at the University of North Dakota since 1988. Originally a faculty member of the School of Communication, she joined the Art Department to build a new graphic design program in 2004. Ganje received her BA at Black Hills State University and her MFA from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, California. Ganje’s research focuses on graphic design as a social or political tool. She is also interested in the ethical dimensions of design and design curriculum. In addition to establishing the Art Department’s BFA program in Graphic Design and New Art Media, Ganje is the founder of UND’s Native Media Center and also teaches classes in the Indian Studies Department. She has published articles on the design of Native American newspapers and the impact of Reservation newspapers on community race relations. She has also published political cartoons in national American Indian newspapers. Her research in semiotics and visual persuasion informs her work regarding culturally appropriated imagery.