Design Justice and Emerging Technologies

This is a theme course within DfI Theme 3: Design for Emerging Sustainable Futures.

This course explores critical approaches to the design of emerging technologies that are shaping—or have shaped—our world (e.g., mechanisation, digital media, artificial intelligence, biomaterials, etc.). Students will examine how technology can transform society in ways that reflect the dominant values, principles, methods, goals, and key actors within design. In particular, they will explore how systemic oppression—based on gender, class, race, ability, coloniality, and other axes—can be embedded in the design of emerging technologies.

The course also introduces students to alternative approaches for envisioning and creating more just futures. These approaches are grounded in design studies and informed by insights from the humanities and social sciences. This knowledge will enable students to engage with design scholarship that challenges systemic oppression, while critically reflecting on their own roles as professionally trained designers within a broader societal context.

The objective of this course is to better equip students to promote social justice through the design of emerging technologies.