Im/possibilities for Pluriversal Design Education: A Field Guide For Noticing Institutional Life

Whitcomb, Andrew (2024) Im/possibilities for Pluriversal Design Education: A Field Guide For Noticing Institutional Life. In: P/References of Design. Cumulus conference proceedings series, 1 . Cumulus Association, Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design Budapest, Budapest, pp. 187-198. ISBN 978-952-7549-02-5

Text d0995ab3-98d5-48f5-bbb7-f7a3332d0b42 - Published Version Download (906kB)

Abstract

A growing body of scholarship supports the development of pluriversal curricula towards healthier ways of being, knowing, and designing. At the same time, the notion of the pluriverse raises thorny questions for the dominant university-based model of design education. Pluriversality challenges us to consider how institutional arrangements, disciplinary habits, and cultural norms privilege certain ways of learning over others and then begin reworking or making new ways to practice design education. Yet, despite growing interest in turiversal design education, we lack references of how people grapple with practicing design education differently on the ground. As an invitation to enrich conversations that transform design education, this exploratory paper sketches a variety of components at play in the institutional machinations and day-today experiences of educators and students. The sketch is presented in the form of an ecological field guide to institutions. The field guide aims to support educators in noticing how the interconnectedness among the day-to-day tasks, positions, relationships, agreements, infrastructures, and risks of a particular context can constrain and expand possibilities for transforming institutions of design education toward pluriversality. By making public the everyday practices of educators, we can keep critical reflection on design education futures grounded resisting the pull to standardize while informing local, pluriversal, action toward healthier ways of knowing and being

Actions (login required)

Edit Item