On Transformation: Student to Educator to Learner
By Liz Chen In July 2023, I learned I would be teaching a special topics course in the spring at NCSU, meaning I could construct a class on whatever I wanted, as long as it related in some way to graphic and experience design. As a recent NCSU graduate student interested in social justice, I carried an urgency to conduct impactful design research, examining educator systemic bias and its impact on underrepresented students in design education. In academia, where curriculum tends to be censored by Board of Trustee ideology and anti-DEI legislation threatens classroom sovereignty, it is increasingly vital to provoke change and advocate for equity and social justice. As a non-tenure track faculty member, I had a unique positionality as I did not feel pressure to please an institution through political neutrality. To me, this was an opportunity to develop a course aimed to strengthen the next generation of designers in their critical thinking skills. Specifically, “Design Ethics and Justice” encouraged students to challenge the status quo and embrace cultural humility. The course, which …
