Design of School

Project Overview

A multimedia critique of Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Design program that addresses issues surrounding race, gender, and identity to spark conversations about the inequalities of power we experience and inspire action towards a transparent system that ensures an equitable education for all students.

Credits

Team—Riya Bobde, Heysu Oh & Christy Zo. Instructor—Kelsey Elder. TA—Ann Li

Funded by the Frank-Ratchye Further Fund Micro Grant.

Timeline

Fall 2023, 6 Weeks

Disclaimer

All quotes shared in this project come from current students and alumni who identify as women of color and have shared their experiences within the school. These women come from a wide array of classes, tracks, and ethnic backgrounds. Quotes have been anonymized to protect the identity of these women, but are otherwise unedited as to not diminish the rawness and vulnerability of the experiences shared.

This is a necessarily-word-heavy case study.

Installation

This exhibit attempts to “deface” parts of Margaret Morrison Hall, which has historically been the women’s college of Carnegie Mellon. Beyond the various posters and zines that are distributed in display cases, walls, and studios, we also anchored the experience within an existing installation.

Along the stairwell walls of Margaret Morrison is a curated collection of quotes gathered by Rebecca Deutsch in 2004. These are voices that provide insight into women’s educational experiences within the CMU over the past century, and are meant to illustrate the evolution and progress of women’s representation in higher academia. To highlight the irony present in many of the historical quotes and emphasizes the importance of recognizing the evolving and diverse experiences of women in our educational environment, we anchored new statement texts from women of color expressing their criticism towards the system through an AR filter.

Posters

All faces are artificially generated with the demographic data from CMU data base. Statements in orange are directly quoted from CMU School of Design’s website.

Zine

Read Full PDF Online

The concluding artifact that ties our claim, exhibit, reflections, and conclusions as one. We spread them in studios, offices, and mailboxes in hopes to reach a wider audience. Unique to the zine, we compiled a list of reflection questions for faculty and students to use as a guide for future conversations. There is also an index of anonymous quotes from all of the current and alumni WOC we’ve interviewed which connect back to specific arguments in our writing.

Social Media

Instagram Link

Hosted on the Instagram at cmudesign of school, we have an AR filter that can be activated through the booklets that we have passed around. We intend to use it as a platform to document people’s reactions to this installation.

Reflections

This was an opportunity for my group and I to think critically about our own place within the institution and how to move on. This project continues in our minds as we see more reactions and responses from both people within and outside of the school. More than the defensiveness, harassment, and apathy that we have received from some peers and professors, we found strength in the fruitful conversations by those who were interested in participating.

COLOPHON

Inspired by...
This is a Critique by RISD Graphic Design Program.
Radical Accountability, Radical Transparency, Radical Action by Gender Fail.
Urgent Publishing After the Artist’s Book: Making Public In Movements Towards Liberation by Paul Soulellis.
Who Can Afford to be Critical? By Afonso Matos.
Cyber Feminism Index by Mindy Seu.

Written in KTC Compact, VTC Tank Man, Asap, Graphik, Yakema.

Printed by Kredier Printing.

Special thanks to the CFA Associate Dean for DEI—Angelica Perez-Johnston and Program Coordinator for DEBrittney Yauger-Limtham.