Announcements; Faculty & Staff »
By Peter Bella, Assistant Professor of Art | Graphic Design »
AGENCY; UCDA Design Education Summit
As we face all possible futures, design educators are expanding the pedagogical methods, institutional norms, and cultural roles of design education. Today’s design educators are interpreting, developing, and activating responses within their design courses, research and practice. Design educators are asking how learners will bring their lived experiences, positionality, and plurality into the classroom. They are asking how learners will define equity in historical, cultural, and societal narratives—redefining a professional discourse. They are asking how learners develop an awareness of their material choices and environmental impact. They are asking how learners will act independently, make individual choices and activate their personal agency to effect change in their life and practice. [UCDA]
The 17th annual UCDA Design Education Summit is a national summit for design educators, chairs, and students, and continues an ongoing community created specifically for graphic design educators. The 2022 UCDA Design Education Summit: AGENCY, sought out research that explores these spaces and selected work from courses, research, or practice for paper presentations, panel discussions, poster presentations, or hands-on workshops. All abstracts on any design-related topics were considered, but preference was given to papers focusing on the topic AGENCY. Proposals were also double-blind, peer-reviewed. [UCDA]
Accepted Panel Discussion:
Asking the right questions
Podcasting; embracing alternative forms of scholarship and expanding creative voice
Podcasts are not new, far from it. Yet still, as research and scholarly requirements are paramount to the tenure and promotion process, podcasting is not revered as highly as other forms of publication. Institutions consider the traditional avenues such as peer-reviewed journal articles, creative work, and exhibited work to be a more digestible form of scholarship. But as educators within the ever-changing face of design, we should not cling to mediums that continue to fall out of touch with not only our audiences but our students. We should be reminded, taking cues from the longest-running podcast on the subject, Design Matters.
The shift from professional practice to academia poses a challenge for design professionals. While many design faculty members are hired to navigate the nuances of a fast-paced design world, they are often constrained by the ways of their institutions. In many cases, this is due to the lack of expanded outlets available to the design educator, which leads faculty members to come up with alternative ways of adding value to the profession and staying current for the sake of their students.
This panel will explore how podcasting is being used as scholarship. The panelists share how their podcasts are recognized as a scholarly activity and discuss their podcasts’ connections to their pedagogical methods. Additionally, the discussion perception of how academia currently views and values podcasting, and share suggestions of the roles design educators play in advancing this conversation. Finally, we will share what other design educators need to know to begin their own podcasts through our own experiences.
The panel includes seasoned podcasters and those new to this form of research. The individual podcasts we produce explore various topics, including design education, design history, design leadership, design agency, design collaboration, and the design process itself.
PANELISTS
Design Dedux
PETER BELLA, JR. [see bio]
Assistant Professor, Department of Art and Design
College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences
University of Central Arkansas
Podcast: Design Dedux; Creating Success in Design Education
Podcast YouTube Channel: Design Dedux
Works in Process
GEORGE GARRASTEGUI, JR. [see bio]
Assistant Professor, Communication Design
NYC College of Technology, CUNY
Website: ggarrastegui.com
Podcast: Works in Process
Design Together
ABBY GUIDO [see bio]
Assistant Professor, Graphic and Interactive Design
Tyler School of Art and Architecture, Temple University
Podcast: Design Together
Incomplet Design History
MANDY HORTON [see bio]
Professor, Graphic Design
School of Design
The University of Central Oklahoma
Podcast Website: Incomplet Design History
Podcast Apple Podcasts: Incomplet Design History
