Whitties Designing the World

Join Professor of Sociology Michelle Janning to hear stories about the creation of a new academic concentration in Human-Centered Design at Whitman.

Saturday, October 8, 2022 - 2 p.m. at Open Book, 1011 S. Washington Ave., Minneapolis.

Parking is free in the adjacent lot and street parking is plentiful. You can find information about our venue HERE.

As a sociologist, Michelle has given dozens of talks and written many books, essays, and articles about the intersections between the built environment and social roles and relationships. She also works a lot with Walla Walla community partners on issues that relate to disability and universal design in schools, homes, and places where families gather. Her most recent book -- A Guide to Socially-Informed Research for Architects and Designers -- captures many of the elements that have gone into the planning of this new program at Whitman.

Join her for a conversation about ways that our designed world -- buildings, furniture, objects, digital platforms, and even social systems -- need to be examined using a critical lens to ensure that they are inclusive, sustainable, and useful for any people who engage with the designs. She will walk through the steps of ideating about the program name and goals, prototyping and iterating curricular models, and empathizing with students and colleagues at every step. As it turns out, design thinking applies to curricular design: to design something that is inclusive, you need to craft a design process that is itself inclusive. Whitman is exactly the kind of place to do this work.

Please note: For the safety of our guests, we are requiring that all attendees be fully vaccinated and boosted (if eligible). We will also be following all local procedures and mandates.