Race and Design: Presidential Lecture Series

 

How can we address race and racism inside and outside the design world?

How can practitioners and company structures be more responsive to the communities it serves, and ultimately, more successful?

Join MCAD President Sanjit Sethi for Race & Design: President’s Annual Lecture Series. President Sethi will moderate a candid discussion on racism and equity in the design field with product and food designer Amanda Huynh, and Rosemary Ugboajah, founder of branding agency Neka Creative.

While the design field impacts the entire global population, the decision-makers operate from a mostly white, Eurocentric perspective. Though change is occurring slowly, racism is still deeply embedded in design practices and products. The aim of the Race & Design series is to imagine how the field could be more inclusive, more responsive to the communities it serves, and ultimately, more successful.

Participants include

Amanda Huynh 黃珮詩, product, interaction, and food designer whose research focuses on community-building, race equity, and sustainable design. She has worked and lectured across a variety of design sectors in Vancouver, Bali, Shanghai, New York, Toronto, Ottawa, Milan, and Barcelona. She is a Leader on the IDSA Diversity Equity and Inclusion Council, helping lead the effort to increase diversity and minority representation in the field of industrial design.

Prior to her appointment at Pratt, she was an Adjunct Professor at Emily Carr University of Art + Design, teaching in the Faculties of Design + Dynamic Media, and Culture + Community. Amanda is based in Lenapehoking (Brooklyn, NY).

Rosemary Ugboajah, founder and CEO of Neka Creative, a brand development agency committed to bringing the power of inclusion to organizations.

Over the course of her career she has worked with numerous brands, including 3M, Frango, Xcel Energy, Cargill, and Johnson and Johnson Vision Care. She also gained corporate experience as a marketer for Target Corporation. She currently serves on the board of the Minneapolis Downtown Council/Downtown Improvement District. She is also co-founder of ArtWest, a nonprofit organization with a mission of advancing equity in art education.

RSVP at  https://www.mcad.edu