Over a century after W.E.B. Du Bois developed the concept of double consciousness, this experience of “twoness” resonates, particularly for those who live and work across cultural boundaries. In this talk, transdisciplinarian Michele Washington explores how double consciousness can inform one’s self-perception as a researcher and designer. In her talk and conversation with discussants, she describes how examining our social and physical geographies through this lens can uncover ways to promote empowerment, equity, and healing.
Speaker
Michele Y. Washington is a transdisciplinary designer, researcher, writer, and academic. Her projects span civic design, cultural spaces, non-profit organizations, publishing, and archival collections. Currently, Michele works for Coforma, a civic design firm, where she focuses on health-based projects. She has also worked on other projects such as A Long Walk Home, Norman Teague Design, City as Living Lab, Leadership Summit, Cox Matthews & Associates, Chronicle of Higher Education, the Romare Bearden Foundation, Medgar Evers College, Poster House Museum, and West Harlem Group Assistance. Michele’s writing has been published in America I Am: Pass it Down Cookbook, The Black Experience in Design, InQue Magazine, Architectural Record, Print Magazine, Wonder City of the World: New York City Travel Posters, and Everlasting Plastics. She is also the founder and host of Curious Story Lab podcast. Michele holds an MFA in Design Criticism from the School of Visual Arts and an MS in Communication Design from Pratt Institute.
Discussants
Joyce Kakariyil Paul, Ph.D is the Director of Research & Insights for Automation & Integration at Salesforce. She has been in the Automation space, having led strategic design research for Microsoft Power Automate as well as designing and implementing a hypothesis driven framework for Microsoft Cloud and Enterprises. She is passionate about identifying problem spaces and then devising uncommon creative research methods to generate impactful actionable solutions. Her superpower hovers around identifying gaps in long range product planning, driving research insights into deliverables and evangelizing the power of user centered design. Outside of work, she teaches Bharatanatyam (arpanarts.org), loves singing, painting, choreographing and cooking. She runs a non-profit called Socially Conscious Artists Foundation (scarf.global) thats strive to bring awareness areound social issues through the performing arts.
Frank Romagosa is an anthropologist, design researcher, and strategic designer. He has worked in major financial institutions, tech companies, startups, and consultancies, and taught at Parsons School of Design and Princeton. A long-time EPIC member, he has served on conference committees and co-chaired the PechaKucha committee. As a New Orleanian and the first-generation son of Latin immigrants, the place of race, migration, memory, and local history are core. Frank holds a PhD in Anthropology from the University of Chicago.
Victor Udoewa is a Service Design Lead in the Office of Public Health Data, Surveillance, and Technology at the CDC. He previously served as CTO, CXO, and Service Design Lead of NASA Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs. He as also served as Director of Strategy at 18F, Global Education Instructional Designer and Training Development Specialist at Google, and a science and technology policy advisor and development engineer at USAID and DHS. Victor conducts and publishes engineering, design, and education research and is a certified health crisis and trauma counselor. He enjoys singing in his choir, teaching salsa classes, and time with his wonderful family.
