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Conference Schedule 2026

Explore the schedule for this year’s DEL Conference.

All conference sessions fall into four categories: Panel, Paper, Case Study, and Design Your Own (DYO) sessions.

There will also be a mixture of talks and workshops.

Note: The schedule is subject to change.

* These sessions will be in Spanish

Day 1, Wednesday, 11 November, La Romana (optional day)

Time
(Dominican Republic)
Santo DomingoLa Romana
8:00 amRegistration
9:00 amBus to Chavón, La Romana (optional trip). Meeting point Chavón, Santo Domingo
11:00 am Welcome to CHAVÓN
Adolfo Lucero
Martha Vidal
12:00-2:00 pmURBAN SKETCH dynamic
2:00-3:30 pmLunch
4:00-5:00 pm Adversarial Futures Thinking and the Endgame of AI Agents
Benjamin Andrew
Location: LAB
5.15 pm Return to Santo Domingo
7:30 pm Informal gathering (optional)

Day 2, Thursday, 12 November, Santo Domingo

Time
(Dominican Republic)
Stream AStream B
8:00 amRegistration and Coffee Break
Location: Long Hallway
9:00 amOpening Keynote
Carmen Gil Vrolijk
Location: Auditorium
10:00-11:15 am*Responsible Intelligence: AI, Ethics and Caribbean Cultural Appropriation in the Age of AI
Hamlet Cabrera + 3 panelists
Location: 1 A-B
*Minor Pedagogical Gestures: Andean-Mapuche Textile Technologies as Resistance to Colonial Extractivism and the Climate Crisis in Design Education
Paola Melina Rapimán Risco
Location: 2A

*Designing from the Caribbean: Eurocentrism in Local Fashion
Erick Lemos
Location: 2A
11:15-11:30 amCoffee Break
Location: Long Hallway + Lobby
11:30-12:45 pmArt, Design & GenAI: An Educator’s Toolkit
Natalie Brown
Location: 2F

Transforming Learning Cultures Through Hybrid Studios Across and Beyond Borders
Claudia Roeschmann & Elisabeth Kaliva
Location: 2F
The Technology of Theatre: Rehearsing Attention and Connection in a World Distracted
Barbie Insua
Location: 2D

*No Margin for Error: From Concept to Execution in Global Latin Design
José Pablo Jiménez González
Location: 2D
12:45-1:30 pm*From Obsessive Drafting to Graphic Narrative: Entrepreneurship on the Autism Spectrum
Anabelle Grullón
Location: 2A
*Colors for Life: Participatory Design Model for Interdisciplinary Co-Creation
Diego Bermudez-Aguirre & Fernando Arboleda
Location: 2B
1:30-2:45 pmLunch
Location: Parking lot food trucks
2:45-4:00 pm*Making the Invisible Visible: Scientific Imaging as a Pedagogical Tool in Cultural Heritage
Ruahidy Lombert
Location: 2A

Vibe Designing Learning: Agent-Supported Web App for Course Design
Jhon Benavides
Location: 1D
Establishing Waikato Design School: Place-Based, Decolonized, Transdisciplinary
Ricardo Sosa
Location: 2B

Teaching Ethics in Wearable Technology Design Through Human-AI Co-Creation
Bolor Amgalan

Location: 1 A-B
4:00-5:15 pm*Transmedia Art, Leisure and Digital Pedagogies in the Age of AI
Rodríguez Santos
Location: 2F
Should Design Move from Form to Experience? Somaesthetics as a Framework
Hirbod Human
Location: 2D
4:30 pmDesigning for Impact: Community-Engaged, Equity-Driven Advertising Design Education
Summer Doll-Myers
Location: 2F
*The Pedagogy of Slow Looking: Teaching Attention in the First Year
Paula Saneaux
Location: 2D
5:15-6:00 pmConference Day 2 Closing Remarks/Coffee
Location: Long Hallway + Lobby
7:15 pmEND
9:00 pmOptional Dinner

Day 3, Friday, 13 November, Santo Domingo

Time (DR)Stream AStream B
8:00 am
9:00 amAlumni Panel
Maria Isabel Tejeda (former Chavón professor)
Willy Gómez (Graphic Designer / JetBlue project)
Dulcina Abreu (Curator)

Location: Auditorium
10:00-11:15 am*The Living Darkroom: Biological Photography, Biodesign and Living Ecosystems in the Caribbean
Hamlet Cabrera
Location: 2B

*Creative Gym: A Biopsychosocial Methodology for Cultivating Soft Skills
Ana María López
Location: 2B
What Are Cities Without Property? Indigenous Relational Thinking and Urban Futures
Claudia Tomateo, Areti Kotsoni & Catherine D’Ignazio
Location: 2A

*Graphic Design and Its Debt to Research: Tensions in Knowledge Production
Oscar Méndez Ayala
Location: 2A
11:15-11:30 amCoffee Break
Location: Long Hallway + Lobby
11:30-12:45 pmFrom Silos to Systems: Rethinking Design Education for Contemporary Practice
Shawn Meek, Jinseup (Ted) Shin, Lisa Abendroth & Jody Paul
Location: 1 A-B
Designing for Our Future Selves: Reframing Age Bias Through Global Futures Thinking
Kimberly Mitchell
Location: 2A
12:45-1:30 pmFoundation Studies as Virtual Multiplayer Studio
Benjamin Andrew
Location: 2A
Access, Creative Practice & Community Care
Nadia Williams + Evelyn Méndez Maldonado (Pocoapoco)
Location: 1 A-B
1:30-2:45 pmLunch
Location: Parking lot food trucks
2:45-4:00 pmFeminist Design Archive: Community-Generated Knowledge Sharing + Mini Add-a-thon
Alison Place
Location: 2F

Co-Imagining Dignity Through Making Across Continents
Archana Shekara, Muhhamad Rahman & Amrita Datta Haughn
Location: LM
Care First: Reimagining the Design Studio as a Condition for Creative Play
Aashima Takkar
Location: 2D

The Semiotics of Unity: Nesting Identities in a Factional Age
Jennifer Rittner
Location: 1 A-B
4:00-5:15 pmTalking Circle
Location: 1 A-B
4:30 pmConference Closing Remarks / Cocktail Party
Location: Auditorium/lobby