The Learning Abroad Center has curated information and lists of programs specific to your College of Design major. Each major has a variety of program options—some led by professors of the college—that help you work towards graduation while providing you with cultural experiences that can't be replicated in a classroom.
Featured Semester Programs
Upcoming Instructor-led Programs
Designing for Black Liberatory Futures: Back to Senegal
May Session 2027
Instructor: Terresa Hardaway
The African diaspora continues to be misrepresented in international and national media, further promoting the divide of African influence in American societies, cultures, and ways of being. Using historical and modern-day research methods, Afrofuturist and Pan-Africanist movements, community engagement, and cross-disciplinary approaches, engage in the design research process to tackle emerging community issues that directly oppress Black communities throughout the United States. Meet with Senegalese community members in a variety of industries and learn innovative, creative ways to help heal our communities, promote abolitionist principles, and advance collective liberation.
This course will explore Black ancestral narratives to learn from the counter-stories of people throughout the African diaspora. Through discussion, writing, community-engaged research, and creative projects, we’ll examine current systems of oppression and their direct impact on Black communities in the United States.
At the end of the course, you’ll be able to:
- Identify West African cultural and design influences on modern-day society
- Apply historical and present-day West African practices toward the reimagining of Black liberatory futures in the United States
- Understand new ways to decolonize your understanding of design impact on society
- Identify ways systemic oppression is rooted in society and contributes to the oppression of Black communities
- Gain insight and new practices from community engagement throughout the West African diaspora to use in your work and discipline
Major Advising Pages
Visit your Major Advising Page to learn more about the best times to go abroad, credit fulfillment, requirements, program details, and additional options to consider.
Have questions about studying abroad? Book a meeting with Molly Green.
Molly has a shared role between the College of Design and the Learning Abroad Center, and provides resources and support to CDes students, staff, and faculty to promote study abroad opportunities within the college.
