Sparking Growth
Making History: Teaching Historical Research Methods in a Graphic Design Studio Course View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Aggie Toppins
To meet the challenges of our age, designers must deal with change, complexity, and contingency — key aspects of historical thinking. Yet graphic design students have few opportunities to develop these skills in design history. Most undergraduate programs in the United States require design students to study art history, but it is less common for programs to require design history, and some may not even offer courses. The common exception is the design history survey, usually a single semester in which students broadly explore the development of design professions from a perspective that often favors art historical framings and a Eurocentric canon. In this paper, I bring a critical historiography lens to graphic design pedagogy, arguing that teaching historical research methods can support the development of critical practices by inviting students to think historically about design instead of reducing history to a record of aesthetic exemplars. I substantiate this claim with data from the field and a case study, using my own course, “Making History” at Washington University in St. Louis. I propose that when we expose students to the historian’s skillset — examining sources, interpreting evidence, framing arguments, and understanding historiographical issues — they learn to interrogate inherited narratives, connect design to social worlds, and find the content that most resonates with their interests.
Featured Osmotic Sensoria - a Neurodiverse Learning Space : Cognitive Flexibility through Guided Play View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Niberca Gissell Polo
In the ever-changing landscape of technology, young generations navigate the complexities of a technological world, it is imperative that we, the educators, understand the conditions that foster enriched learning environments that are truly diverse, equitable, and inclusive. As new technologies emerge, like MixReality, the Metaverse, and AI, we need to reshape the educational paradigm. Despite innovations and efforts to embrace different ways of thinking and creating, the Industrial Revolution model still stands as the norm. There is a pressing need for a paradigm shift, particularly in the realm of diversity, equity, and inclusion, where neurodiverse learners often find themselves marginalized in traditional learning spaces. To contest the status quo, my project, Osmotic Sensoria, is a pop-up installation that explores ways to naturally, and organically, stimulate brain learning systems—neurodivergent and neurotypicals alike—through an immersive experience where multiple participants engage in guided play, kinetic learning, and multisensory stimulation (oral narrative, visual projections, and other) to enhance cognitive flexibility and creative thinking. Grounded in principles of human-centered design and informed by research in educational models and cognitive neuroscience, Osmotic Sensoria serves as a design-led research artifact—a living laboratory—that collects people’s group learning experience to open discourse about the future of education as it relates to neurodiversity within a DEI model.
Course Design for Peace: A Graphic Design Approach to Peaceful Societies
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Sheeraz Wania
Peace is not merely the absence of conflict but a proactive and intentional cultivation of harmony within societies. This paper introduces and discusses the need and thought process behind the design for a course ‘Design for Peace’. This theme holds immense relevance in today's world, as we continue to grapple with various conflicts, both overt and subtle, arising from political, social, economic, and cultural differences. In today's interconnected world, conflicts in one region have a ripple effect globally. This course acknowledges this interconnectedness, looking to foster global collaboration and understanding and leverage the power of design as a catalyst for peacebuilding. Some of the core objectives for this course are: To understand the concept of peace from various standpoints and levels. To apply Human-Centered Design principles to create inclusive and culturally sensitive solutions. To analyze historical and contemporary graphic design examples showcasing the impact of design in fostering peace initiatives and understand the role of design in promoting peace and societal harmony. To appraise the ethical considerations and challenges inherent in design, addressing issues of cultural sensitivity, power dynamics, and the need for participatory approaches. To harness the power of graphic design and storytelling, in the creation and communication of peace-oriented messages effectively. By synthesizing theory with practical applications, this course looks to contribute to the discourse on leveraging the power of design as a proactive instrument in cultivating sustainable solutions for peace, thereby paving the way for more inclusive and harmonious societies.
Tracking Pluriversal Design Pedagogy: A Longitudinal Study of an Intercultural Design Course View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Rebecca Nally, Regine Abos
This paper presents a longitudinal study of a pluriversal design pedagogy developed through the Melbourne/Kulin Study Tour, an intercultural course co-delivered by RMIT University (Australia) and the Singapore Institute of Management. Reflecting on the past twelve years of the authors’ involvement, within a course running since 2006, this study examines how a plural approach to design education was iteratively built and adapted across the distinct cultural contexts of Singapore and Australia, challenging entrenched power dynamics in design education. Our study critiques traditional frameworks of expertise in the teaching models of both institutions, exploring how curricular shifts reflect growing awareness of broader social changes and Experience Design’s role in shaping socio-cultural narratives. Drawing on decolonisation, standpoint theory, and situatedness, we outline a pluriversal approach that prioritises place-based learning through public pedagogy, positioning designers as authors of mediated realities. Informed by pluriversal principles, we demonstrate how curriculum adjustments invite deeper engagement with diverse ways of knowing through a case study of an annually iterated brief (2017–2024). This brief invites Singapore-based students to create zines, documenting their insights during a two-week stay in eastern Kulin (Melbourne). Set within the academy, we highlight the risk of ‘pluralism’ being co-opted into universalist frameworks akin to institution-driven notions of CALD and inclusion. However, we also argue that pluriversal principles can improve job-readiness by enhancing critical thinking, cultural awareness, and meaningful design outcomes. This emphasises the enduring value of sustaining pluriversal design practices for navigating interconnected worlds.
