Designing for Disruption: The Justice of Artifacts & Space

The Design Justice Symposium centers anti-racism, racial and social justice, equity, environmental justice, disability justice, and/or other forms of justice that work toward countering systemic oppression in design education and practice. The symposium creates space to engage in work that is necessary in disrupting and dismantling oppressive design through educational and workshop opportunities. This year's theme, Designing for Disruption, uplifts ways to use design to disrupt the status quo and normative or colonial design processes within artifacts and space.

Registration now closed. Registration is free for students and volunteering faculty/staff or $50 for non-students. Registration is required to attend and secures your spot at the symposium along with lunch, refreshments, swag, and raffle entries!

Symposium Keynotes

Dr. Cheryl D. Miller, Keynote

Award-winning designer, writer, activist, and educator, Cheryl D. Holmes-Miller is our Day 1 Keynote speaker. She is the leading voice for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the graphic design industry. Holmes-Miller is an American BIPOC communications designer, writer, artist, activist, and theologian, best known as a design justice advocate and decolonizing historian. She recently published Where the Black Designers Are.

Symposium Day 1: Justice of Designed Artifacts

Thursday, September 25
McNeal Hall, 1985 Buford Ave, St Paul, MN 55108
8:15-8:55AM Registration + Breakfast
9:00-9:30AM Opening Session in McNeal Hall
9:40-11:20AM Workshop Sessions in McNeal Hall
11:30AM-12:50PM Affinity Group Lunches
1:00-2:40PM Workshop Sessions in McNeal Hall
2:40-2:50PM Break
3:00-4:00PM Keynote in McNeal Hall
4:00-4:30 End Session + Raffle
4:30-6:00PM Social + Book Signing in McNeal Hall

Alicia Belton, FAIA, NOMA

Alicia Belton is a citizen architect and servant leader whose civic activism and humanitarian work builds social equity, expands the diversity of voices in architecture and public art, and enriches human potential locally and abroad. With over 30 years of experience in practicing architecture, she is Founding Principal and Chief Creative Officer of Urban Design Perspectives. She leads her practice committed to environmental stewardship, client advocacy, and equitable practices.

Symposium Day 2: Justice of Designed Space

Friday, September 26
Ralph Rapson Hall, 89 Church St SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455
8:15-8:55AM Registration + Breakfast
9:00-9:30AM Opening Session in Rapson Hall
9:40-10:40AM Keynote in Rapson Hall
10:50AM-12:30PM Workshop Sessions in Rapson Hall
12:40-2:10PM Affinity Group Lunches
2:20-4:00PM Workshop Sessions in Rapson Hall
4:10-4:40PM End Session + Raffle
4:50-6:00PM Social in McNeal Hall