Visitors engaging with Nantucket Harbor immersive visualization installation

Henry Stankiewicz

Assistant Professor of Graphic Design | Creative Technologist

My work is driven by High-Tech Humanism: the conviction that advanced tools must be designed and deployed to enrich human experience and protect individual autonomy. I implement this through the Integrative Layer — a conceptual and technical framework that translates complex, opaque infrastructures into transparent systems for discovery, narrative, and community agency.

Research & Creative Works

A sustained line of inquiry into immersive storytelling, professional literacy, and institutional frameworks.

Featured Case Study — Current Research

Nantucket XR: Harbor Visualization

A digital twin exploring spatial agency and virtual maritime heritage. Selected for the Whaling Museum Digital Archives.

MODE 2025 DOUBLE-BLIND PEER REVIEWED
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Foundational Case Study

Liberty Hall 360

Investigating presence-based narrative and viewer autonomy within immersive cultural heritage.

NY EMMY® NOMINATEDVIDDY PLATINUM AWARD
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Technical Infrastructure

Structural Agency & Professional Literacy

Dismantling technical barriers through systemic visual logic, establishing a permanent infrastructure for professional literacy and providing students with the structural autonomy to navigate complex industry standards beyond the classroom.

MANUSCRIPT IN PROGRESS
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Community-Engaged Research

Community Agency & Social Impact

Co-designing for social impact and public health. La Pica and the Happiness Collaborative apply the same scaffolding methodology to community equity and cultural preservation.

PUBLICLY-ENGAGED SCHOLARSHIP
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Pedagogy

Research-informed instruction bridging immersive storytelling, motion design, and foundational professional practice.

My teaching translates immersive research into a rigorous pedagogical framework, coordinating Motion Design and XR curricula across the Michael Graves College. By architecting a clear trajectory from foundational technical literacy to advanced portfolio development, I provide students with the structural agency required to navigate the creative labor market. This mentorship—extending to 50+ seniors annually—integrates community-engaged research through the Happiness Collaborative, ensuring that student work functions as a permanent contribution to social and public health narratives.

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Service

Institutional stewardship across governance, infrastructure, and curriculum.

My institutional service focuses on the strategic alignment of university governance with the demands of an R2 research environment. Through leadership on the Provost's Faculty Technology Advisory Group (FTAG) and the Vice President of Research's Technology Initiative, I architected policy frameworks that eliminate procurement barriers and ensure faculty autonomy in specialized research. These contributions establish the long-term capacity for immersive research, the ethical implementation of generative AI, and a sustainable infrastructure for responsible technology adoption across the university.

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