Serving the Marginalized Through Design Education

Design education and practice are inherently social from process to implementation. This book explores the transformation in design education, as educators prepare their students to address complex social design problems for all people in society.

This seven-chapter volume provides the reader with a range of viewpoints on the role of design education in shaping the world. The book begins with the overarching potential of design to address the needs of an increasingly complex society and the importance of worldview that underpins education methodology. Each chapter addresses a context that varies by discipline – architecture, graphic, packaging and interior design – and location – Nigeria, Canada, Lebanon, UK and USA. The authors pull back the curtain on their educational methods and provide the reader with a candid view of their teaching outcomes. The needs of the marginalized – victims of Asian hate, students with dyslexia, tomato farmers and even design students themselves – are brought into focus here. These specific places and peoples provide a design context that can be translated to other situations in design education and practice.

Design educators and practitioners of many design disciplines will benefit from the philosophical discussions and the practical education examples offered here. This volume can contribute to transforming design education that will one day transform design practice to place a greater emphasis on the needs of the forgotten in society.

Steven B. Webber was a design practitioner for over 10 years prior to teaching interior design at Florida State University where he has been an educator for 12 years. His areas of teaching span the curriculum, including first year undergraduate students in the introductory course, junior-level undergraduate students in construction documentation and construction technologies and the senior-level undergraduate and graduate-level design studio capstone courses. Research areas include design pedagogy, emotional intelligence, empathy and systemizing. In 2023–25 Steve will serve in executive leadership roles (president-elect, president and past-president) of the Interior Design Educators Council.