At the Spring 2019 AIGA Conference in Pasadena, Design Educators are invited to join us for a series of talks, workshops, and roundtables on Perspectives on Design & Culture. We are interested in cultivating a conversation around the intersection of design, culture, and education. How might we be reconsidering and discussing culture within design education and how might design and education become more respectful and inclusive of culture(s) and how might we empower students to become active participants in influencing cultural shifts?

We’d love to see you in Pasadena! Register here (Educators get a HUGE discount!)

See below for a schedule of events. And learn more about the conference here.

Friday (April 5)

8:15–9:15  Roundtables

• Roundtable One: Socio-Political Discussions in the Classroom – David Asari
• Roundtable Two: Dialectic, writing for design – Amy Fidler

9:30–12:00  Symposia

9:30–9:45  Introductory Remarks from DEC Chairs Marty Maxwell Lane and Amy Fidler

9:45–10:45  Keynote with Rebeca Méndez + Q/A

10:50–11:10  Culture & Aesthetics: How Growing Up in an Urban Minority Environment Creates Challenges When Designing for a Mainstream Audience – Kaleena Sales

11:10–11:50  Pecha Kuchas  

• Teaching the slowness of cultural change in a fast-paced short semester – Rachel Beth Egenhoefer
• Design Research for Mental Wellness – Hannah Park
• Encouraging Multiculturalism – Rob McConnell & Jihae Kwon
• Experience, learn and design to be inclusive, raise awareness and persuade in an interdisciplinary program – Hye-Jin Nae

11:50–12:10  Designer as Gatekeeper: Critical Approaches to Designing Interfaces – Jonathan Hanahan

12:30–1:30  Roundtables

• Roundtable One: Design Futures – Marty Maxwell Lane & Lee-Sean Huang
• Roundtable Two: Women Lead, Educator Edition – Meena Khalili

Saturday (April 6)

8:15–9:15  Roundtables

• Roundtable One: Design Teaching Resource – Annabelle Gould
• Roundtable Two: Aspiring Educators – Aaron Ganci

9:30–12:00  Symposia

9:30–9:35  Brief Welcome to Day 2 by DEC Chairs Marty Maxwell Lane and Amy Fidler

9:40–10:00 Design and Inuit Cultural Artifacts: at the intersection of ways of knowing – Angela Norwood

10:00–10:20 Preparing students for designing with culturally-aware, decolonialist mindsets – Jessica Jacobs & Gaby Hernandez

10:20–10:50 Pecha Kuchas

• Fredy Perlman and the Detroit Printing Co-op – Danielle Aubert
• Design After Capitalism – Matthew Wizinsky
• Imposter Syndrome and Being the only Representative in the Room – Meaghan Dee

10:50–11:00  Brief Closing Remarks by DEC Chairs Marty Maxwell Lane and Amy Fidler

11:05-12:00 Workshops

• Futurecasting as a Tool for Inclusive Design and Teaching – Julian Scaff
• Informing Cultural Understanding by Aligning Critical Thinking with Information Receptivity – Rebecca Tegtmeyer, Alberto Rigau, and Marty Maxwell Lane
• Checking Bias in Empathy Maps – Zack Tucker

12:30-1:30  Roundtables

• Roundtable One: Finding Mentors in Education – Meaghan Dee
• Roundtable Two: Education + Diversity and Inclusion – Gaby Hernandez