DEL Conference

A Teaching Case Study: Expanded Life Drawing
2024-09-27 13:00 - 13:30 (Europe/London) | NAFA Campus 1, Towerblock Room 5-36 (SU)
Questions around our bodies are constantly evolving. Within the fine arts, life drawing practice and the study of the nude form has had a long pedagogical history, tracing back to Pliny the Elder’s recounting of Zeuxis and his models. While classical academic training has lost relevance in the post-modern art education, life drawing practice continues to persist in areas such as media arts, liberal arts and the figurative arts. How do we adapt and tune classical fine art pedagogies towards global contemporary relevance? This case study session will share interdisciplinary strategies developed in the past decade of teaching life drawing in Higher Education, across fine arts, liberal arts, and media art tertiary environments, in collaboration with medicine and science.
Presenter: Yanyun Chen, Professor of the Practice (School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Tufts University)
Session type: Case Study
Time listed is Singapore time.

“Still You Bloom in this Land of No Gardens”: The Black Female Artist in the Age of AI
2024-09-27 13:00 - 13:30 (Asia/Singapore) | NAFA Campus 1, Towerblock Room 10-02 (PC)
The explosion of generative AI tools and immediate access to generative AI image software at the end of 2022 sparked seemingly new and urgent conversations about the role of images, the maker and our networked cultures. Would humans now be sidelined? How would we discern what was real? And what of the potential for AI Hallucinations, inaccurate outputs creating nonsensical iterations of reality? Drawing on the works of artists Lynette Yiadom-Boakye and Njideka Akunyili Crosby the paper suggests the strategies employed by these two artists in their attempts to explore the experience of the African diaspora, provides us with a possible framework with which to consider the process of image making in the age of AI.
Presenters:

Natasha Bonnelame, Programme Director: Digital Learning (London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London)

Session type: Paper
Time listed is Singapore time.

Online Dexterity—Applications for Enhancing Teachers’ and Students’ Competence and Confidence in Online Spaces in Tertiary Art and Design Education
2024-09-27 13:30 - 14:00 (Asia/Singapore) | NAFA Campus 1, Towerblock Room 5-36 (SU)
Digital tools and artificial intelligence are disrupting and transforming pedagogies in higher art and design institutions. In this session, we introduce research that advances the notion of ‘online dexterity,’ framing the technological proficiency of university educators and students not as fixed abilities but as immediate, flexible responses to the evolving landscape of online learning. Utilising phenomenology and grounded theory research methods to examine the experiences of 55 university teachers and students, we chart the strategic adjustments that constitute their online dexterity. In this session, we encourage participants to discuss potentially integrating these practices into the higher education sphere of art and design.
Presenters:

Joyce Hwee Ling Koh, Professor of Learning Design and Technologies (University of Otago)

Session type: Paper
Time listed is Singapore time.

Fabricating ‘the skull of Thotsakan’ using virtual reality sculpting
2024-09-27 14:15 - 14:45 (Asia/Singapore) | NAFA Campus 1, Towerblock Room 10-02 (PC)
Global megatrends predict that virtual reality will transform numerous facets of human existence. Sculpting is currently feasible with the aid of this technology. Could the spatial interaction capabilities of virtual reality be advantageous in the context of sculpting? By employing a practice-based methodology, the investigator has constructed a virtual reality sculpting framework in this investigation.
The study aimed to accomplish two goals:

assess the viability of Medium by Adobe, a virtual reality sculpting software, through a comparative analysis of its tools and traditional clay sculpting; and
implement the methodology to fabricate a physical sculpture using 3D printing.

The research revealed the following:

the virtual world’s tools employ a comparable sculpting methodology to their physical counterparts; and
the investigator produced the skull of Thotsakan, a prominent antagonist in Thai Ramakian epic.

Sculptors can use virtual reality creation tools to gain vantage points while sculpting at any scale and experience an immersive virtual sculpting experience unrestricted by gravity.
Presenter: Gomesh Karnchanapayap, Assistant Professor (Silpakorn University)
Session type: Paper
Time listed is Singapore time.

Authorless Futures: Redefining Authorship. AI, Synthetic Creativity, and the Future of Design.
2024-09-27 14:15 - 14:45 (Asia/Singapore) | NAFA Campus 1, Towerblock Room 10-02 (PC)
Authorless Futures” examines the evolving role of AI in art and design, presenting it as a pivotal partner in creative processes. It scrutinizes the impact of synthetic creativity on authorship and artistic expression, envisioning a future where AI and human creativity merge, blurring traditional roles and boundaries. This study advocates for a paradigm shift towards a co-creative synergy between human intuition and
algorithmic precision, inviting you to reconsider creativity in the digital age and highlighting the potential for a new era of collaborative intelligence.
Presenters:

Jeannie Joshi, Visiting Assistant Professor (Pratt Institute)

Session type: Case Study
Time listed is Singapore time.

Space for Many: Designing Soft, Pliable Public Spaces
2024-10-11 14:00 - 15:00 (Europe/London)
Description:
Within the realm of design (interiors and architecture), there is a prioritization of westernized ideals that dictate materiality, spatial organization, interaction and form. Often, the messiness of the domestic sphere is excluded from these conversations, in favor of modernization, cleanliness, and hard materials. By centering and prioritizing the body within our approach to interiority and interior design pedagogy, we aim to produce spaces that are softer, more experiential, and more materially diverse as a way of allowing for nuance. We present three primary examples of student design work that bridge domesticity and public performance, utilizing soft and temporal materials, in order to promote more meaningful and sensorially rich social interactions.
Presenters:

Hannah Dewhirst (Assistant Professor at University of Kentucky, College of Design)
Aanya Chugh (Assistant Professor at University of Kentucky, College of Design)

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An Unfinished Manifesto for Arts Education in the Age of Chaos & Technology
2024-11-08 14:00 - 15:00 (Europe/London) | Online – Zoom
A celebration and critique of technology in an age of chaos. The early 21st Century will be presented as a defining period in human cultural evolution, and the challenges faced unprecedented on a global scale. Climate change, and it’s likely consequences, food and water scarcity, mass migration, and uninhabitable environments, will be conceptualised as an age of chaos, and technology as a counter point and driver for further chaos, or, solutions through innovation. Through a practice-based exploration of emerging technologies, and consideration of disruptive theoretical frameworks and pedagogies, a return to the Avant Garde in arts education will be imagined, and colleagues invited to participate in a workshop exploring chaos, technology, and the practice of educating artists and innovators in the 21st century.

Presenters:

Jennifer Bell (Senior Lecturer, Nottingham Trent University)
Kristian Jones (Senior Lecturer, Nottingham Trent University)

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Error Aesthetics: Glitch Art as a Nexus of Creation and Theory
2025-02-21 14:00 - 15:00 (Europe/London) | Online – Zoom
Glitch art represents a critical intersection between artistic practice and academic inquiry, challenging established paradigms of digital aesthetics, authorship, and the concept of error. As a disruptive force within digital culture, glitch art offers unique opportunities to explore innovative methodologies in art production, media and design while questioning the cultural, social, and philosophical implications of technological systems and their failures. It opens pathways for examining how meaning is constructed around glitches by diverse actors, including those producing media content, artists, cultural commentators, and general users. These interpretations not only reflect the complexities of our digital age but also reveal the potential of glitches to deconstruct and reimagine the narratives embedded in contemporary technologies.
In this DEL in Between, Claudia Garza, Chair of the Digital Arts Academic Department (Western Region) for the Tec de Monterrey in Mexico, will introduce this theoretical framework and present examples from her own creative practice and teaching.
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Families Learning Together: Expressive STEM Inquiry in San Marcos, TX
2025-03-21 13:00 - 14:00 (Europe/London) | Online – Zoom
For nearly a decade, Families Learning Together (FLT) has explored the intersections of art, design, and creative computing through a community-based, intergenerational learning model. Anchored at the Centro Cultural Hispano de San Marcos and the San Marcos Public Library, FLT invites families, youth, elders, university students, and K-12 educators to engage in computational storymaking, dramatic robotics, and community science. Rooted in Expressive STEM, FLT bridges STEM disciplines, transdisciplinary literacies, and everyday life experiences to create purpose-driven, culturally sustaining learning.
In this DEL In-Between session, I will describe how FLT positions digital and computational making as a socially embedded practice that strengthens community aspirations. Highlights include FLT’s integration of multimodal STEM literacies into informal, intergenerational learning; the family playshop format, where everyone teaches and everyone learns; and the community design playground, where participants prototype activity sequences and develop facilitation skills. By rejecting siloed expertise and gatekeeping, FLT is building scalable, open-access learning networks that fuel interdisciplinary inquiry, problem-finding, and innovation.
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Presenter
Sean Justice, Associate Professor, Art Education (School of Art & Design, Texas State University

I teach art, code, and creative confusion at Texas State University, where I explore what happens when teachers, students, and computers tangle with each other. My research looks at how learning changes in the digital age—elegantly, precariously, serendipitously. When I’m not teaching, researching, or writing about teacher education, I make photographs, videos, and generative animations that play with light, time, and uncertainty.
Read: Media: Family Time: Associate professor brings creativity and computers together
Learn more about Sean.

Interrogating AI: Positionality and identity of artificial intelligence
2025-04-25 14:00 - 15:00 (Europe/London) | Online – Zoom
We bring a unique set of lived experiences to our practice as educators, artists, designers, and learners. When we use artificial intelligence tools to supplement or enhance our work through a humanistic lens, we use it as an extension of ourselves seeking to learn or create something new. In initial use of AI, we can be met with inherit bias, vagueness and limitations in the output.
The more we train an AI to learn about us, the more it mirrors us through our own syntax, values and ethics we’ve provided. When we take opportunities to reflect on this process of mirroring, we can confront the AI with its own identity and positionality – even when it claims it doesn’t have one.
We will discuss how our individual positionality and identity affects our uses of AI, and together we’ll have a live dialogue with an AI about what it thinks, how it learns and what it feels.
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Image: Generated by Jheni and Hannah through a series of 38 collaborative prompts using Adobe Firefly.
Presenters:
Jheni Arboine is an Educational Developer in Academic Enhancement, located within the Teaching, Learning and Employability Exchange at University of the Arts London. As an Educational Developer, she looks at some of the key issues and priorities for courses. Where courses may have what we would call attainment gaps or awarding gaps, her role is to work with course leaders to develop strategies to address them.
Jheni facilitates Positionality Wheel workshops for students and staff to think about the positions, roles and identities that we all have within the context of learning and teaching at university. She also facilitates Inquilab/Ink-Lab, a reading group at UAL that encourages staff and students to come together to explore and activate conversations about social justice and decolonisation.

Hannah Hyde is the Digital Learning Engagement Coordinator within the Digital Learning Practice team within the Teaching, Learning and Employability Exchange at University of the Arts London. Her work involves communications, staff development, events and coordinating staff networks. She is also the DEL Conference Coordinator and is usually the one sending out newsletters, posting on DEL social media, and responding to emails.
She’s previously facilitated workshops on storytelling, learning environments and AI, and presented at DEL 2024.

Student Panel on AI
2025-05-09 14:00 - 15:00 (Europe/London) | Online – Zoom
Join us to hear from a panel of art and design students will discuss their projects, experiences and perspectives on the ethics of
Panelists include:

Parsons School of Design: Camila Bravo del Corral, Muskan Niraj Gupta, Ritika Suryawanshi
Penn State University: Kaydee Dambeck
Texas State University: Harshini Kaparaju
University of the Arts London: Zhongyuan Zhang

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Digital Tools for Cognitive Abilities & Wellbeing
2025-09-19 14:00 - 15:00 (Europe/London) | Online – Zoom
Join us to learn about digital tools and practices which support cognitive abilities, memory retention, emotional regulation, and wellbeing as part of the DEL in BetweenPR series.
Time is in London time. Check your local time and date.

MindMaze: The Role of Interactive Digital Tools in Supporting Cognitive Abilities and Memory Retention
Presenter: Maryam Farhadi, Assistant Professor (Eastern New Mexico University)
This presentation examines the role of interactive digital tools in cognitive engagement, memory retention, and emotional support. By integrating cognitive science, UX research, and interactive media design, these tools offer innovative solutions for individuals experiencing Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and related cognitive challenges, particularly in dementia care.A key example is MindMaze, an interactive digital application designed to support cognitive well-being through adaptive design, sensory-driven engagement, and interactive storytelling. By reinforcing memory recall with familiar voices, images, and personalized interactions, MindMaze provides both cognitive stimulation and emotional reassurance, fostering a sense of connection and familiarity.This session will explore the research methodologies, design principles, and accessibility considerations behind such digital interventions. Attendees will gain insights into how user-centered design, emotional engagement, and interactive storytelling can be applied in digital health, education, and assistive technology to support individuals with cognitive impairments. Additionally, this presentation will examine how design serves as a tool for impact in healthcare, shaping more accessible, empathetic, and research-driven solutions that improve both cognitive and emotional well-being. The discussion will highlight key UX strategies, ethical considerations, and research-driven insights that contribute to the development of inclusive and effective digital tools.

ALBUM: Exploring Personal Photo Booklets as Visual Design Tools for Emotional Regulation, Self-Soothing, and Wellbeing in Higher Education Students
Presenter: Maria Mackinney, Associate Professor (Royal Danish Academy, Institute of Design and Interaction)
ALBUM is a research project exploring how personal photo booklets can support emotional regulation and wellbeing in at-risk students in higher education. Rooted in narrative therapy and photo therapy, the project examines how curating personal imagery from one’s camera roll can help re-author dominant internal narratives – such as feeling unworthy or isolated – and foster resilience. Drawing on theories from Michael White, Judy Weiser, and Roland Barthes, ALBUM views photo booklets as both reflective practices and emotional tools. Students are guided through selecting, organizing, and printing their images into small, chapbook-inspired booklets during facilitated workshops. These booklets aim to serve as tangible self-soothing objects in times of emotional overwhelm. The project also includes a bio-sensorics phase measuring emotional response through eye-tracking, voice analysis, and skin conductance to assess the impact of self-curated vs. others’ imagery. ALBUM will be piloted in an interactive workshop where participants co-create content and engage with the concept of glimmers – small visual triggers of comfort and joy. The project seeks to demonstrate how accessible, visual practices can offer meaningful, preventative emotional support in education and beyond, meeting students in their everyday visual lives with compassion and creativity.

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What is DEL in Between (PR)?
DEL in Between (PR) is a monthly peer-reviewed webinar series exploring emerging topics in art and design higher education. It is organised by DEL Conference, a collective of colleagues across Parsons School of Design, Penn State, Texas State University, University of the Arts London.
Learn more about DEL.

Generative AI in Design Education
2025-10-17 14:00 - 15:00 (Europe/London) | Online – Zoom
Join us to explore using Generative AI in game design and its impact on teaching and learning within multidisciplinary design education
Time is in London time. Check your local time and date.

DOING IT MY WAY: Exploring Generative AI as a Support Tool in Game Design Education.
Presenter: RAY LC, Assistant Professor of Creative Media (City University of Hong Kong)
One challenge in game design education is the deep understanding of game mechanics and aesthetics that can only be learned through years of real world experience. To teach student game designers who lack mechanics-creation and illustration expertise to prototype games, particularly those with a physical component, we created a four-week workshop that enabled game design students to use both text and image-based Generative AI tools (GenAI) to design and make table-top games. We found that students used different strategies that either relied entirely on GenAI specification or ignored their recommendations, depending on the contexts and perception of GenAI. Students found that both text-to-text and text-to-image tools lacked originality when asked to build unique ideas into a fresh game mechanic. Instead, participants often viewed GenAI more as a resource assistant rather than a collaborative designer. Text-based GenAI was used most notably during rule-specification stage of the design, while image-based tools were used for repeated regeneration of potential game visual elements. We examined insights for how game designer education may utilize text and image-based GenAI tools for creating and rapidly testing physical aspects of design experiences, providing a blueprint for how future educational tools may overcome challenges inherent in GenAI educational support.

Exploring the Impact of Generative Artificial Intelligence on Teaching and Learning within Multidisciplinary Design Education
Presenters:

Jeannine Vail, Assistant Professor (University of North Texas)
Chanjuan Chen, Associate Professor (University of North Texas)

As generative artificial intelligence (AI) technology continues to revolutionize the design industry, traditional design processes in fashion and interior design are being reshaped by the integration of digital tools, leading to new opportunities for creativity, efficiency, and accessibility. This rapid evolution underscores the urgent need for design education to adapt and innovate. These programs must revisit their curricula to incorporate emerging AI trends, equip students with relevant skills, and foster a deeper understanding of the interconnectedness between design and various technologies to prepare students for the rapidly changing industry.
Through a multidisciplinary workshop series led by an AI designer, followed by a faculty-led course assignment, within four weeks, fashion and interior design students explored the intersection of AI platforms, then applied this new information to a design project in which each discipline was given the same context and starting AI prompt. Although different outcomes surfaced, the design process, learned experience, and reflection from the students were similar. What initially was an uncertain landscape, the “AI world” became less daunting, and students’ improved confidence allowed them to move forward with a clear direction for using AI in the future and what it means for the fashion and interior design industries.

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What is DEL in Between (PR)?
DEL in Between (PR) is a monthly peer-reviewed webinar series exploring emerging topics in art and design higher education. It is organised by DEL Conference, a collective of colleagues across Parsons School of Design, Penn State, Texas State University, University of the Arts London.
Learn more about DEL.

Community of Inquiry & Decelerating Design Education
2025-11-14 14:00 - 15:00 (Europe/London) | Online – Zoom
Join us to discuss transforming and co-designing digital asynchronous learning and promoting slowness in design education.
Time is in London time. Check your local time and date.

Transform Digital Asynchronous Learning through Community of Inquiry and Co-Design Approach
Presenter: Uyen Nguyen, Senior Learning Designer (RMIT University)
This case study examines the significant challenge of transforming asynchronous learning in Digital Media Studio 2 at RMIT Vietnam, where traditional content delivery in Canvas had resulted in passive consumption rather than active engagement. Using the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework (Garrison, 2009), we shifted from heavy content delivery to interactive, technology-enhanced learning experiences that develop cognitive, social, and teaching presence. The implementation of H5P activities, Padlet, Atomic Jolts, and Genially transformed isolated content consumption into active, community-based learning. This process not only enhanced student learning but also upskilled instructors who, despite being skilled digital practitioners, had not transferred their innovation to teaching practices. Using a typography module as an example, this session illustrates how CoI principles support design learning, encourage peer interaction, and incorporate teaching presence. This approach bridges the gap between asynchronous preparation and face-to-face studio practice while addressing critical challenges in design education, including student motivation, quality engagement, and authentic application of design principles.

Resisting Acceleration: A Pedagogical Case Study in Critical Design Education
Presenter: Cynthia Lawson Jaramillo, Professor of Integrated Design (Parsons School of Design)
Society and our planet are in desperate need of sustainable designers. We cannot afford to continue making more “stuff” and we certainly must break our patterns of living, consuming, and depleting resources at accelerated rates. In a studio course at a U.S. private institution, undergraduate students from across design disciplines and the liberal arts engaged with frameworks that promote slowness – craft-oriented and indigenous-centered approaches – to design for each of the three vertices of sustainability: equity (social and labor), economy (business models), and ecology (natural resources and the environment).The course employed a two-phase structure: first, students conducted critical redesigns of existing products, services, or systems; in the second phase, they developed original speculative or practical interventions based on their personal skills, values, and disciplinary lenses. This session will present the course’s guiding research questions, pedagogical strategies, and qualitative analysis of student work and reflection. It will conclude with a discussion of the collaboratively authored “Manifesto for Sustainable Slowness” as both a pedagogical tool and a potential framework for design research that foregrounds temporality, locality, and interdependence.
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What is DEL in Between (PR)?
DEL in Between (PR) is a monthly peer-reviewed webinar series exploring emerging topics in art and design higher education. It is organised by DEL Conference, a collective of colleagues across Parsons School of Design, Penn State, Texas State University, University of the Arts London.
Learn more about DEL.

Digital Creative Reconstruction & Social Design Tools
2025-12-12 14:00 - 15:00 (Europe/London) | Online – Zoom
Join us to learn about bridging cultural heritage through interactive media and a toolkit for social design education.

Time is in London time. Check your local time and date.

Digital Creative Reconstruction: Bridging Cultural Heritage, Interactive Media, and Higher Education
Presenter: Danial Ezzati, University Specialist (University of Connecticut)
In the digital age, cultural heritage risks misrepresentation or erasure, particularly for underrepresented communities. Digital Creative Reconstruction is a methodology that integrates game design, immersive storytelling, and interactive technologies to preserve and reinterpret historical narratives. This presentation explores how this methodology was applied in TIME: Journey to Nowruz, a game that revives Persian cultural heritage through VR/XR, gamification, and environmental storytelling. By blending historical accuracy with creative expression, this approach challenges digital colonization while fostering cultural engagement, education, and participation.This session will discuss how higher education, design, and digital media can benefit from this methodology to create inclusive, interactive learning experiences. It will provide insights into gamification for cultural education, immersive design strategies, and digital heritage preservation, demonstrating how such approaches can be integrated into academic curricula, museum exhibitions, and digital storytelling frameworks.

We have no choice, we need social design for everyone: A Granular Visual Toolkit for Social Design Education
Presenter:

Jonathan Ventura, Associate Professor (PhD)/Director of the Unit for History and Philosophy (Shenkar – Engineering. Design. Art.)
Michal Pauzner, Senior Lecturer (Shenkar – Engineering. Design. Art)
Dr. Andreas Unteidig, Director of MA Eco-Social Design (HSLU)
Prof. Matteo Moretti, associate professor (UNISS)

In this session, we share a newly developed concept – a dynamic, digital system of modules aimed at helping BA design educators, who consider themselves novices in social design, implement modules of social design into their courses. Based on the teacher’s previous knowledge of social design, and the intended impact on the students, these modules are structured around 5 key layers: theoretical worlds, methodologies, design projects, key concepts and definitions, and preferred practices. In this manner, designers from all sub-disciplines of design, new to social design can pick and choose modules or sub-modules relevant to their course and imbue these principles in their lessons. Through this innovative approach, we wish to broaden the use of social design practices in BA programs and help educators understand their potential for our shared future. This platform was develop for the Social Design Network, which we are a part of.

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What is DEL in Between (PR)?
DEL in Between (PR) is a monthly peer-reviewed webinar series exploring emerging topics in art and design higher education. It is organised by DEL Conference, a collective of colleagues across Parsons School of Design, Penn State, Texas State University, University of the Arts London.
Learn more about DEL.

Equity in the Review & Artifacts and Pedagogies
2026-01-23 14:00 - 15:00 (Europe/London) | Online – Zoom
Join us to explore rethinking and designing the art and design school experience.
Time is in London time. Check your local time and date.

Equity in the Review: Rethinking the Portfolio Review and Submission Process for Inclusive Art and Design Students
Presenter: Summer Doll-Myers (Associate Professor, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania)
This session explores the student portfolio review as a critical gateway to art and design program admissions and its implications for equity. Drawing from standards and frameworks established by organizations such as NASAD (National Association of Schools of Art and Design) in the U.S., NPDA (National Portfolio Day Association), as well as international bodies like EQ-Arts (Enhancing Quality in the Arts) the presentation analyzes how socio-economic factors, high school curricula, and varying levels of access to resources impact portfolio scores and admission outcomes. By examining disparities in how artistic potential and teachability are assessed—particularly in online formats—the session reveals how review processes may unintentionally disadvantage students. Using a range of data, case studies, and institutional review practices, the session presents findings on the complex relationship between portfolio evaluation and student success. Attendees will be invited to reflect on their current standards and explore insights and best practices to refine their portfolio review methods through an equity-centered lens.

Artifacts and pedagogies: the crafting of a new design school
Presenter: Lorenz Herfurth, Associate Professor (École de technologie supérieure)
This contribution is centred around the ongoing effort that is currently taking place at a university in Montreal, Canada, of establishing the first UX Design program in the province of Quebec.
This is a project that encompasses the establishment of a new design school including the construction and equipment of built infrastructure and the hiring of professors. In this session we will share observations and test initial hypotheses on how the process of planning a new program is characterized by a continuous flow between strategic thinking, the adherence to pedagogical principles and the real-world affordances that are represented by existing built infrastructure and collaborative online tools.
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What is DEL in Between (PR)?
DEL in Between (PR) is a monthly peer-reviewed webinar series exploring emerging topics in art and design higher education. It is organised by DEL Conference, a collective of colleagues across Parsons School of Design, Penn State, Texas State University, University of the Arts London.
Learn more about DEL.

Teaching Ethics and Social Responsibility
2026-02-13 14:00 - 15:00 (Europe/London) | Online – Zoom
Join us for an interdisciplinary panel exploring ethics and social responsibility in undergraduate education.

Time is in London time. Check your local time and date.

Designing with Care: Teaching Ethics and Social Responsibility through Interdisciplinary Collaboration
Presenters:

Kimberly Mitchell, Assistant Professor of Graphic Design (University of Tennessee Knoxville)
Ting Zhou, Assistant Professor, Web/Interactive Media Design ( University of Connecticut)
Dr. Yuqing Zhang, Assistant Professor, Nursing (University of Cincinnati)
Fengpei (Fiona) Yuan, Assistant Professor, Robotics Engineering Department (Worcester Polytechnic Institute)

This panel brings together an interdisciplinary group of educators—two from design and two from nursing and engineering, respectively—who collaborate on research or teaching initiatives that explore ethics and social responsibility in undergraduate education or community health participants. Their work spans diverse populations and life stages, often engaging with complex health and social contexts. Across classrooms and community research settings, students or community participants are not only introduced to these challenges but are invited to participate as co-researchers and creative partners. Through an open conversation, the panelists will explore how their interdisciplinary perspectives shape the way they mentor students, structure community-engaged projects, and foster empathy and social responsibility. Attendees will be invited into the dialogue to share their own strategies, questions, and insights as we collectively consider how care, responsibility, and justice can become integral to design education—particularly in cross-disciplinary settings.
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What is DEL in Between (PR)?
DEL in Between (PR) is a monthly peer-reviewed webinar series exploring emerging topics in art and design higher education. It is organised by DEL Conference, a collective of colleagues across Parsons School of Design, Penn State, Texas State University, University of the Arts London.
Learn more about DEL.

Blending Studio and Screen & Archive to Adventure
2026-03-06 14:00 - 15:00 (Europe/London) | Online – Zoom
Join us to rethink the first-year design school experience and reignite curiosity for research.

Time is in London time. Check your local time and date.

Blending Studio and Screen: Rethinking First-Year Design Education
Presenters:

Linh Nguyen, Learning Designer (RMIT University Vietnam)
Huy Tang, Associate Learning Designer (RMIT University Vietnam)
Matthias Waldhart, Associate Lecturer (RMIT University Vietnam)

Achieving productive, equitable learning in first-year arts education often requires closing a gap between teaching expectations and student readiness. In this fashion design subject, learning activities were structured around the idea that students already shared a working knowledge of design terminology and conceptual frameworks. However, many were still developing confidence in academic English and unfamiliar with foundational fashion concepts. This mismatch made it difficult for students to participate in critiques, communicate their ideas, or keep pace with studio expectations.In fashion education, terms like “concept development” or “mood board” can carry different meanings for different learners. Without early clarification and structured exploration, students interpret and apply these ideas inconsistently, resulting in unaligned outcomes and assessment challenges.This session shares how a blended learning approach was used to redesign the course. Through interactive, narrative-led pre-class sequences, students were introduced to core terms and design concepts in a visually engaging, self-paced environment. They were guided through explanations, exploratory tasks, and applied activities that connected directly to their own creative work. By preparing students before class, the course made better use of studio time for feedback, experimentation, and meaningful discussion, creating a more inclusive and effective learning experience.

Archive to Adventure: Reigniting Curiosity Through Campus-Based Creative Research
Presenter: Meredith Cawley, Lecturer (University of North Texas)
As higher education navigates post-pandemic challenges, many first-year students arrive disengaged and disconnected from exploratory thinking. Conditioned by standardized testing and digital overload to seek correct answers over meaningful inquiry, they often struggle with open-ended creative challenges like ideation, visual analysis, and research-based making. But when students are invited to leave the classroom and engage directly with physical archives, rare materials, and site-specific investigations, their passivity shifts. These encounters with resources they can’t find online—such as garments from the campus fashion collection or artifacts from university special collections—make abstract ideas tangible, spark deeper curiosity, and increase investment in their work.Drawing from experience in a foundations program, the presenter shares strategies that connect students with campus archives, museum collections, and even building infrastructure to inspire research-driven creativity. One project explores systems thinking and transformation through designer garments. Another uses rare books and zines to develop narrative and material specificity. A third engages students with architectural history, investigating the evolution of a former open-air structure to prompt reflection on spatial memory and change.This session contributes to curiosity-driven pedagogy by reimagining archives and overlooked campus spaces as active collaborators in creative learning.

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What is DEL in Between (PR)?
DEL in Between (PR) is a monthly peer-reviewed webinar series exploring emerging topics in art and design higher education. It is organised by DEL Conference, a collective of colleagues across Parsons School of Design, Penn State, Texas State University, University of the Arts London.
Learn more about DEL.

Last Original Memory & Feeling Futures
2026-04-17 14:00 - 15:00 (Europe/London) | Online – Zoom
Join us to explore technology’s relationships to personal experiences and teaching emotional literacy as a teachable skill.

Time is in London time. Check your local time and date.

The Last Original Memory
Presenters:

Camila Bravo, Strategic Designer (The New School – Parsons School of Design)
Muskan Gupta, Strategic Designer (The New School)
Ritika Suryawanshi, Strategic Designer (The New School)

Would you want to live in a world where your authentic memories can be replaced? Where AI doesn’t just generate synthetic recollections but reconstructs your real memories, fitting them into your brain through a chip, letting you relive moments that were once yours—only to have them replaced by others? *Your Last Original Memory* explores a future where technology blurs the line between personal experience and artificial reconstruction. Memories are no longer just yours; they are bought and replaced, altering your identity and sense of self in a market-driven world. In a world where data holds power, what happens when your past is no longer yours to keep? Would you still choose to remember?

Feeling Futures: Exploring Emotional and Futures Literacy Through Youth-Led Design Research
Presenter: Aniela Fidler-Wieruszewska, PhD Sudent, Designer, Creative Researcher (Glasgow Caledonian University (London))
What if we treated emotional literacy as a future skill? This session shares insights from a youth-led, creative research project that explores how adolescents experience climate emotions—and how they make sense of them through fashion (creative medium). Based in London and involving over 50+ participants, the study used participatory design design, speculative thinking and mindfulness techniques to explore how young people relate to climate change, sustainability and their futures.By reframing fashion as more than consumption—as a site of creativity, emotional expression and identity building—this session opens up new ways to teach and talk about climate resilience. It presents creative tools that educators, researchers and cultural practitioners can use to engage students in emotionally rich, future-oriented conversations. Participants will also take part in a short reflective activity from the study and consider how we might design more emotionally intelligent learning environments.
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What is DEL in Between (PR)?
DEL in Between (PR) is a monthly peer-reviewed webinar series exploring emerging topics in art and design higher education. It is organised by DEL Conference, a collective of colleagues across Parsons School of Design, Penn State, Texas State University, University of the Arts London.
Learn more about DEL.

Evaluating Community-academic Partnerships
2026-05-15 14:00 - 15:00 (Europe/London) | Online – Zoom
Join us to explore improving learning and self-efficacy by engaging students in solving authentic, real-world problems.

Time is in London time. Check your local time and date.

Accountability needed: how we evaluate the experience and impact of community-academic partnerships
Presenters:

Cambey Mikush, Assistant Professor, Capstone Coordinator (Duke University)
Liz Chen, PhD, MPH, Associate Professor and Design Thinking Lead (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
Megan Madonna, PhD, Assistant Research Professor (Duke University)

Across disciplines, community-academic partnerships (CAPs) for project-based courses can improve learning and self-efficacy by engaging students in solving authentic, real-world problems (Krsmanovic, 2021). Using human-centered design to structure these community-based courses helps students consider diverse perspectives while developing stronger communication, problem-solving, critical thinking, and teamwork skills. Despite the benefits of project-based courses for students, projects’ quality, applicability, and impact on community partners can vary tremendously. Little research has emerged identifying metrics to monitor and evaluate the experience of the community collaborators that play vital roles in these partnerships. This panel presentation will explore emerging measurements, including two new survey evaluation tools, and strategies that can be used to evaluate the experience and outcomes of community partners engaging in projects with higher education students. Panelists include three design educators from two nationally ranked higher education institutions with Public Health, Occupational Therapy, and Biomedical Engineering backgrounds. The discussion will highlight the panelists’ experiences measuring the benefits of CAPs for design-explicit courses, particularly from the perspectives of community collaborators.
Reference: Krsmanovic, M. (2021). Course redesign: implementing project-based learning to improve student self-efficacy. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 21(2):93-106.
How can I sign up?
Sign up on Eventbrite

What is DEL in Between (PR)?
DEL in Between (PR) is a monthly peer-reviewed webinar series exploring emerging topics in art and design higher education. It is organised by DEL Conference, a collective of colleagues across Parsons School of Design, Penn State, Texas State University, University of the Arts London.
Learn more about DEL.
