Research

Some of my research and presentation decks from my time in academia (2011-2022).

There’s more if you’re interested. But I’m betting you’d rather look at my portfolio.

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  • Design Thinking in the Classroom

    This presentation, given at the 12th Annual Conference on Higher Education Pedagogy, discusses the results of a series of participatory workshops with groups of faculty and students that explored how design thinking might facilitate new ways of approaching course and curriculum design in order to enhance student engagement. Co-investigators: Najla Mouchrek, Program Director, Dean of…

    Conference presentation, Workshop design

  • Practice-led Research in Design Education

    An invited presentation at the 2019 Research and Design in Education Conference (REDES 2019) in Lisbon, Portugal, after which I had a lovely conversation with Ken Friedman (renowned author, design theorist and editor of She Ji), about the need for teaching professional practice in design education.

    Conference presentation, Invited lecture

  • Teaching the Business of Design

    A conference presentation at the 2015 Southeastern College Art Conference, making the case for more student-run studios in design education. As a designer, working with clients can be very different from working with other designers or design professors. Students need to understand and be able to discuss business goals and strategies as easily as they…

    Conference presentation

  • Letting Context Speak

    “Letting Context Speak: The Use of Co-Creative, Design-Led, and User-Centered Design Methods in the Design of Complex Public Communications” was published in Communication Design Quarterly 2.3 in May 2014. This paper discusses how co-creative, design-led, and user-centered design methods are being utilized to gain insight into the factors that influence the communication of food recalls.…

    MFA research, Published research

  • The Semiotics of a Smile

    Part of my MFA research was published as a book chapter in Signs and Symbols for Workplace and Public Use (Nova Science, 2013). This research focused on signs, semiotics, the language of pictograms, and what happens when designers don’t fully understand the needs of their audience. Abstract: Should a warning sign make one smile? To…

    Book chapter, MFA research, Published research

  • Face Value: Cultural Significance of the Smiley

    My first international conference presentation, given at the 3rd International Re-Thinking Humanities and Social Sciences Conference at the University of Zadar, in Croatia. Abstract: Since its “official” creation in 1963, the cheerful, yellow-and-black Smiley has been a well-known symbol of happiness for many cultures around the world. It is important, however, to explore the reasons…

    Conference presentation, MFA research