The problems societies face today are complex, if not wicked. Gender equality, water scarcity, climate change, social justice, food scarcity, natural disaster response, political engagement, the future of work...just to name a few. They signal that making any progress will demand a robust partnership of the humanities, social sciences, science, and technology, where the respective expertise will be united utilizing design practices.
Solely focusing on science and technology innovations for solving our great challenges is a guarantee of failure. Progress to improve the human condition will be denied without deep understanding of human experiences, broad contexts, multiplicity of relationships, politics, and cultures. Human-centered inquiry, sustainability, and social justice need to be baked into our thinking to develop the kind of solutions humanity needs as well as to create our world’s future leaders.
The Humanistic Design Speaker Series brings to campus speakers that highlight how broad, yet deep domain expertise can be brought together through design to enhance the human condition. This series brings up-and-coming scholars from outside to our campus to discuss their efforts in humanistic design.
By bringing these speakers to campus, we will understand emerging insights into critical areas impacting the planet and human condition. If you are interested in how science and humanities partner through design to create a better world, please attend.
Past Events
April 2025
Innovation In The Era of Non-Human Intelligence
Julian Bleecker, Near Future Laboratory
A discussion on how humans and AI will define the future of innovation.
March 2025
Reflections on the Impact of Design Research in Society
Jodi Forlizzi, Carnegie Mellon University
This talk will set the context for the role of design in creating purposeful and pragmatic advances in society, both historically and today.
October 2024
Large-Scale Design-Driven Social Innovation: What Works
In this talk, Kees Dorst, Professor of Transdisciplinary Innovation at the University of Technology Sydney, will highlight the significance of adopting alternative thinking and creating design-driven strategies that extend beyond merely solving problems, paving the way for sustainable social change.
April 2024
Access Is Capture: Datafication, Race, and Urban Schools
Roderic Crooks, University of California Irvine
Library as Design Ecology
Shannon Mattern, University of Pennsylvania
March 2024
Too Big, Too Complex, Too Unjust: Design, Scale and the Unmaking of the Present
Jamer Hunt, Parsons School of Design
February 2024
The Invisible Native, Japanese Atmospherics, & Bryophytic Architectures: How The Humanities Can Support Speculative Design
Ahmed Ansari, New York University
Society First, Then Technology: Lessons Learned from Studies of NASA, Radical Data Autonomy, and Anti-Racist Design
Janet Vertesi, Princeton University
April 2023
March 2023
