Consider – A documentary on teaching for social justice
Team: Tasoulla Hadjiyanni, principal investigator
Program: Interior Design
Housing instability, along with historical, racial, and economic inequalities, accentuate the challenges many Black non-custodial fathers face in fulfilling their paternal roles. The limited research on supportive affordable homes for Black single parents perpetuates the systemic exclusion of Black non-custodial fathers from expanding their caregiving roles, placing additional stresses on Black mothers’ and children’s emotional and physical well-being.
This Imagine Chair for Arts, Humanities, and Design project is centered around the documentary film “CONSIDER.” The film follows two Black single mothers in YWCA-St Paul’s supportive housing and University of Minnesota interior design students and educators in the Spring 2023 IDes 3605 – Interior Design Studio V as they consider what supportive affordable homes for Black single parents could look like. Their introspections on how to create built environments where everyone can thrive challenge stereotypes and affirm the power of design to change lives. When recovering from trauma, having space for a table to eat and gather the family instills dignity, fosters healing, and teaches the younger generations healthy eating practices. Broadening forms of dissemination to include filmmaking and resources that can be widely shared is instrumental to efforts to infuse community engagement in design education as a medium for social justice.
Keywords: Housing, Black single parents, design education, social justice
Funders: Imagine Chair for Arts, Humanities, and Design
Other Collaborators: YWCA St Paul, Chris Newberry, Prakshi Malik
