Decolonizing Design Research: Activist Scholar

*This event is occurring as a live webinar. Registrants will be emailed a link to access the program; please continue to register.*

“Decolonizing Design Research” is a workshop series that explores how research can create spaces and places that reflect values of anti-racism and justice. The dominance of western design aesthetics and research methods is largely invisible to those who were trained in design. As a result, these practices can reinforce existing power structures that are harmful to many. This workshop series will provide a space to understand how to mitigate bias in design research methods and learn about less familiar methods used in other disciplines and contexts.

For the second workshop in this series, we are inviting activist scholars to share their work and perspectives on how research can be the basis for making shifts towards equity and justice in the built environment, whether towards achieving fair housing policies or creating a movement around amplifying less-heard voices. We will examine the questions:

• Who creates and benefits from knowledge?
• How are the actions and findings from research communicated?
• What research or data underpins an impactful social movement?

Workshop participants will gain insights from academic and applied research about methodologies that can be linked to shifting power and working toward liberation. Prior attendance in this series is not required to participate in this program.

Panelists:
Dr. Deshonay Dozier, Assistant Professor of Human Geography, Cal State Long Beach
Joseph Kunkel, Design Director, Sustainable Native Communities Design Lab, MASS Santa Fe, NM
Shawhin Roudbari, Assistant Professor, Environmental Design, University of Colorado Boulder

Moderator:
Gabriel Halili, Designer and Urban Planner

Resources:
“Decolonization is not a metaphor” by Tuck and Yang, 2012
Design, Politics, and Infrastructures of Immobility by Niles & Roudbari, 2020
Three Degrees of Ethical Engagement: A Manifesto for Architects. Roudbari, 2019

About the speakers 

Dr. Deshonay Dozier is an Assistant Professor of Human Geography at Cal State Long Beach and is completing a book on how poor people abolish the penal organization of their lives by envisioning and planning for a better Los Angeles.

Joseph Kunkel, a citizen of the Northern Cheyenne Nation, is the Director of MASS’s Sustainable Native Communities Design Lab based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. As a community designer and educator, his work explores how architecture, planning, and construction can be leveraged to positively impact the built and unbuilt environments within Indian Country. Joseph’s early work focused on the research of exemplary Native American Indian housing projects and processes nationwide. This research work has developed into emerging best practices within Indian Country, leading to an online Healthy Homes Road Map for affordable tribal housing development, funded by HUD’s Policy, Development, and Research Office.

In his research, Shawhin Roudbari studies ways designers organize to address social problems. He bridges sociological studies of social movements and race with architectural theory. Shawhin is a founding member of the Spatial Justice Design Collective, which uses design and theory building to investigate how dissent and counter-hegemonic tactics play out in space. His work contributes to theories of contentious politics in the spatial professions and employs ethnographic methods. His research projects are supported by the National Science Foundation and his groups’ work is published in architectural and sociological journals.

Gabo Halili is a multidisciplinary designer with nearly 10 years’ experience in architecture, urban planning, and graphic design in New York City and beyond. He works to build more just and equitable communities through cross-industry tools including architectural design, zoning and land use, community engagement, and visual communication, among others. Collaboration and relationship building are essential components of his approach to ensure his technical skills complement the unique expertise and perspective of each client and their stakeholders.

Other programs in the series:

10/26 – Decolonizing Design Research: Citizen Participation