April D. Allen, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
201N Human Ecology
517.432.3239
Fax: 517.432.8108
allenapr@msu.edu

Research interests: History of interiors, sense of place, creativity and visualization, and historic preservation
 

Dr. April Allen is an Assistant Professor in Interior Design in the School of Planning, Design and Construction. She graduated from the College of Architecture at Virginia Tech with a Ph.D. in Environmental Design and Planning in 2004. Dr. Allen is National Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ) Certified and served as a Qualified Council Juror for the exam from 2000 – 2003. She is a member of the Interior Design Educators Council (IDEC) and the Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA), serving as a conference paper reviewer and on the Program Committee for the EDRA37 conference in Atlanta.

Dr. Allen practiced interior design for 18 years concentrating in the area of retail store planning before beginning graduate school in 1997. She has teaching experience at all levels from first year through graduate courses in both studio and lecture formats. Currently she teaches history of interiors and a course in historic preservation. Her teaching philosophy aims to encourage students to think creatively, act ethically, and take initiative in creating more functional, sustainable and aesthetically pleasing environments.
Dr. Allen currently chairs three master’s thesis committees and serves on several additional graduate student committees. She advises undergraduate students in research projects for the Undergraduate Research and Arts Forum and serves as mentor for recently graduated students in the Interior Design Experience Program (IDEP) administered by NCIDQ.
 

Current research projects include a study of historic lighting and a study of MSU historic campus buildings and changes made to their interiors over time.