Critical Speculative Design was a course offered in Fall 2024, taught by professor Ijeoma Njaka. The course delves into how the interwoven histories of slaveholding and colonialism shape the current landscape of higher education and how these legacies may restrain our designs for the future of universities.
By situating learning design as a liberatory process, the class uses the practices of critical speculation, speculative play, and design fiction to reimagine higher educational institutions for an anti-racist future.
Group florilegia activity.
Collage from class collaging session.
Final Artifact Assignment
The course culminates with a final artifact, which prompts students to harness the power of rigorous imagination through creating an original, creative project that aids in crafting possible future anti-racist institutions of learning.
Artifact Design Process
I initially thought about creating a mural/map/painting of a imaginative, speculative society of learning that is intentionally designed for people of color in mind and creating equitable outcomes for them. I was particularly interested in illuminating groups whose identities I can relate to- low income, first generation students, (Southeast) Asian Americans, students with invisible disabilities, and/or those a part of the LGBTQIA+ community.
I had hoped to create the map digitally, though I had to pivot my plan when the canvas size I wanted to create was too big to create digitally on my iPad. I ended up creating my project with mixed media elements to communicate meaning without explicit words, and incorporated an accompanying key to the piece.
Final Artifact and Annotation
