Engaging design educators in active dissemination, discussion, and networking during conferences hosted throughout the country has be a key initiative of the AIGA Design Educators Community. These national and regional conferences explore educational issues ranging from design history, theory, and pedagogy to diversity, equity, globalization, sustainability, and emerging practices.

Below are links to the websites of past AIGA DEC Educator Conferences and to educator programming from AIGA National Design Conferences. On many of the sites you will find downloads/links to conference papers as well as audio or video of conference events.

Pivot: AIGA Design Conference
October 13–16, 2011 | Phoenix, Arizona

Educator Programming (more content forthcoming)

Pre-Conforence Workshops:
Teaching Typography and Context, Denise Gonzales Crisp
Designing Flexible Curriculum, Meredith Davis
Tools For Understanding Context and Taming Complexity: A Whole Systems Approach to Design, Hugh Dubberly
Designing Assessments for Teaching and Learning, Stacie Rohrbach

Education-Related Rountable Discussions

New Contexts/New Practices
October 2010, Raleigh, NC

response_ability: Ethics and Sustainability in Design Education
May 2010, Toledo, OH

AIGA National Design Conference, Make/Think
October 2009, Memphis, TN
Of interest to educators:  Design and the Liberal Arts Education Elizabeth Coleman

Future History 3
March 2009, Chicago, IL

Social Studies: Educating Designers in a Connected World
October 2008, Baltimore, MD

Massaging Media 2: Graphic Design Education in the Age of Dynamic Media
April 2008, Boston, MA

AIGA National Design Conference, NEXT
October 2007, Denver, CO
Educator Programing: How Does Design Research Impact Design Practice? (audio link) Sharon Poggenpohl and Liz Sanders, moderated by Meredith Davis; K-12: Where Design Thinking Begins (audio link) Daarina Abdus-Samad, Meredith Davis and Doreen Nelson; moderated by Steve Hartman; Letting Go of 20th Century Models for Design Education (audio link) Rafael Fajardo, Santiago Piedrafita and Holly Willis, moderated by Barbara Sudick; How Should Design Education Prepare Students for a Future of Change, Bill Buxton and Hugh Dubberly

Intent/Content
May/June 2007, Nashville, TN

Schools of Thoughts III: What so graphic about graphic design? Educating in the age of ubiquitous media
March 2007, Pasadena, CA

The Design Frontier: Graphic Design Education in Small Programs and Non-Urban Regions
December 2006, Denver, CO

Revolution: Philadelphia
June 2005, Philadelphia, PA

Schools of Thoughts II: Poised Towards the Future of Design Education
March 2005, Pasadena, CA