Itinerary - NA_PhD_by_Design

All sessions are free and open to all registered attendees. Tickets to attend the sessions can be bought on our Eventbrite page. Attendees with a who wish to participate in the PhD-led workshops and discussions on Monday and Saturday must register for them on our Eventbrite page using the promo code: PHDBYDESIGN (But please make sure you also have a 'general admissions' ticket so we can email you the zoom links for all sessions). Sessions will be conducted live on Zoom and won't be recorded unless stated otherwise.

Afternoon Session | 3:00PM - 04:30PM EST

Workshop: Constructing Speculative Scenarios for Anti-Oppressive Technologies

Organizers\Facilitators: Jessica Jacobs & Irem Tekogul (IIT)
This workshop will explore our research hypothesis that transforming existing contextually-rich methods and tools to increase the salience of systemic oppression will assist designers in identifying potential for bias and making design decisions that lead to more equitable outcomes for users. Specifically, this workshop is intended to test a framework for working with scenarios that examine asymmetries of power, justice qualities, and potential for bias in the development of information and communication technologies.

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Afternoon Session | 3:00PM - 04:30PM EST

Discussion: Conversatorium: PhDs in Design (re)forming knowledge, practices and boundaries (Bilingual: English & Spanish)

Organizers\Facilitators: Marysol Ortega, Silvana Juri, Sofia Bosch-Gomez, Erica Dorn, Alex Polzin (CMU)

We propose a bilingual conversation (Spanish and English) that seeks to open an exchange and reflection about the trajectories of change that are perceived within the field of design. In particular, we will seek to understand how these directions may be influenced, shaped or hindered by the increasing research emerging as a result of the existence of PhD programs in design within the North American region and its regional influence. Some of the key questions we're interested in are: What are the trajectories the design field is taking thanks to PhDs in design? What are the main perceived drivers and barriers to this process of change that may be addressed by solidifying a PhD research community?

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Important Note: This discussion will be held in both Spanish and English, although being bilingual is not a prerequisite for participation. It will also be recorded, compiled, and repackaged as an episode in the podcast Design in Transition/Diseño en Transición, for free distribution, so by signing up you consent to have your participation become part of the content for this podcast episode.

Evening Session | 06:00PM - 07:00PM EST
In Conversation: Dr. Ahmed Ansari & Dr. Anne Burdick

Dr. Anne Burdick is a designer, critic, educator, and researcher. For ten years she was the Chair of Media Design Practices (MDP), a graduate program at Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, and is now a visiting Research Professor of Visual Communication in the School of Design at University of Technology Sydney, where she is co-founder of the Knowledge Design Lab. Dr. Ahmed Ansari will engage Dr. Burdick in conversation about her journey as a design educator and scholar, keeping an active research practice for many years without a PhD in Design, and what finally motivated her to pursue a doctorate. her experiences in getting a PhD later in life.

Evening Session | 05:00PM - 06:30PM EST
Panel Discussion: What Should the Doctorate in Design Be?
Moderator: Lara de Sousa Penin (Parsons)

Panelists: Zoy Anastassakis (UERJ), Wendy Ju (Cornell Tech), Daniella Jenkins (UAL), Lucy Suchman (Lancaster), Dimeji Onafuwa (Google)

In this panel, panelists will share their ideas and discuss some critical questions around the nature and motivations of doing a PhD in design: The tension between practice, theory and the creation of new knowledge at this time and age; the role of PhD in shaping new agendas, new ethics and pushing society and industry; and the implications for PhD research in design as it shapes the future work of designers and researchers (whether in teaching, as independent studio practitioner, as tech and innovation industries, government etc).

Evening Session | 06:00PM - 07:30PM EST

Panel Discussion: Starting a Design PhD Program?

Moderators: James Pierce & Audrey Desjardins (UW)
Panelists: Laurene Vaughan (RMIT), Celeste Martin (Emily Carr), Cameron Tonkinwise (UTS), Bruce Tharp (UMichigan)

How, and why, do you start a Design PhD Program? We'll talk about the nuts and bolts, and ins and out, of trying to start a PhD program in Design. From budding aspirations to abandoned plans to sustained successes, we'll have an open conversation about the motivations and practical realities of getting a Design PhD off the ground.

Evening Session | 06:00PM - 07:30PM EST

Panel Discussion: Death to Method, Long Live Method! Doctoral

Research in Design

Moderators: Laura Forlano (IIT)

Panelists: Sarah Fox (CMU), Christina Harrington (DePaul), Richmond Wong (UC Berkeley), Erin McElroy (AI Now)
This panel explores the praxis between theory and method in the fields of design and human computer interaction. How do design scholars navigate the boundaries that have often separated theories from methods in their doctoral training? How does this show up in teaching, research and writing? Where are theory and method more easily blended and blurred? What other ways are there for navigating these intersections in future curricula and/or research projects?

Evening Session | 06:00PM - 07:30PM EST

Panel Discussion: What After, What Beyond? Life After the PhD, Work Outside of Academia

Moderators: Carl DiSalvo (Georgia Tech)
Panelists: Nassim Parvin (Georgia Tech), Healther Wiltse (Ume), Thomas Lodato (Mozilla Foundation), Deepa Butoliya (UMichigan), Ian Hargraves (Mayo Clinic)

This panel explores career possibilities after completing your Ph.D. For some, that means academia, for others that means industry. But even within these options, there is a great deal of variation: different academic, business and non-profit environments beget different modes of research and engagement. Through lively presentations and discussions, panelists will share their experiences after the Ph.D., and address questions from the audience.

Noon Session | 12:00PM - 01:30PM EST

Workshop: Information and Disbelief: Distinguishing Events From Evidence In Court Cases

Organizers\Facilitators: Sankalp Bhatnagar, Miso Kim, Jules Sievert, Dan Jackson, Ana Teixeira, Antonio Coronado (Northeastern University)

This workshop introduces participants to a conceptual frame from legal scholarship to develop a method for collectively distinguishing events from evidence presented in and around court cases.

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Noon Session | 12:00PM - 01:30PM EST

Discussion: Design For/Through/After Capitalism

Organizers\Facilitators: Jessica Jacobs & Irem Tekogul (IIT), Esther Kang (CMU) & Sam Lavigne (UT Austin)

This discussion will explore three conceptual approaches that explore: how designers and design researchers might “walk alongside” capitalism; function as “tricksters” within capitalist contexts; and cultivate “thinking with care” (and “dissenting-within”) capitalist contexts. During the discussion, we will offer three provocations built around each concept as they might be applied to different design/research/practice contexts. In the end, we ask, do these approaches offer new paths for those seeking equity and justice while offering tangible, concrete alternative actions at the immediate, micro scale?

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Afternoon Session | 03:00PM - 04:30PM EST
PhD-Led Research Presentations
Presenters:
Britta Boyer, Unsettling Design Perspectives through Critical Cartography

Amy Chen, Designing Slowness in Everyday Technologies

Jessica Priemus, Narrating Textile Construction: Towards a Processual Aesthetic

Evening Session | 06:00PM - 07:30PM EST
Closing Keynote: Dr. Shannon Mattern
"Kits, Probes, and Diagrams: The Formalism of Method"
Facilitator: Tega Brain (NYU)
From IQ test kits to bento boxes, cultural probes to Lunchables, those little pack of tools that comes in an IKEA flatpack to rape kits, and countless designedly toolkits for social justice and resilience: the “tool kit” offers a convenient and aesthetically appealing solution in a box. This talk examines the prevalence of such “kit”-work in both the methods and output of design research, and questions how such assemblages function as epistemological and political objects.

Symposium Itinerary

Dates: 5 April, 2021 - 10 April, 2021