https://eg-de.org emergent grounds for design education Fri, 29 Jul 2022 03:41:11 +0000 https://eg-de.org en https://eg-de.org/Archive Mon, 21 Dec 2020 23:04:57 +0000 emergent grounds for design education https://eg-de.org/Archive Archive The status quo of anti-Blackness, White American and European supremacy, cisheteropatriarchy, and inaccessibility of architecture and design education is a product of our schools’ systemic exclusion and erasure of Black, Indigenous, Latinx and other people of color. The debts of omission incurred compounds with every cohort, generation after generation. These demands explain what is owed.&nbsp; We are currently in the process of analyzing 275+ demands from students, alumni and faculty of 44+ schools in the United States and Canada. We look forward to sharing the results of our research with you. &nbsp; How did we collect these demands?&nbsp; The seeds of the Emergent Grounds Archive were collected by our co-facilitators in the fall of 2020 and the spring of 2021. The archive includes 44 statements and lists of demands written by students, alumni, faculty and others, addressed to the leadership of North American architectural institutions. How do I access these demands?&nbsp; Access each list of demands by clicking on the titles below. Statements are organized in alphabetical order by title. Multiple entries for the same institution reflect statements written by distinct groups of organizers to that institution’s leaders. 10 Demands for Tulane Architecture Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA Instagram post a letter to Ryerson DAS Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, Ontario, CA ryersondasarc.cargo.site (no longer active) A Letter to the Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA Google doc A-School Call to Action University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA Google doc (no longer active) An Open Letter to the Faculty and Staff of the Robert Reich School of Landscape ArchitectureLouisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA openlettertorrsla.wixsite.com/sign Black DUSP Thesis Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA Google doc&nbsp; Call for Action Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA Google doc CED Architecture: A Call to ActionUniversity of California, Berkeley, USA Google doc COLLECTIVE OF STUDENTS WORK TO CREATE AN ANTI-RACIST INSTITUTION Cooper Union, New York, New York, USA Student newspaper article Comprehensive Diversity Initiative University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA Instagram postNOMAS@VT Statement on RacismVirginia Tech University, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA PDF Dear CoAD Community and Dean Patricia Belton OliverUniversity of Houston, Houston, TX, USA Google doc Demands for an Anti-Racist School &amp; What is to be done? a statement of solidarity Virginia Tech University, Blacksburg, VA, USA&nbsp; https://artwai.cargo.site/ Design Justice Actions for Taubman CollegeUniversity of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA https://designjusticeactions.cargo.site&nbsp;(no longer active) Design Justice at PittUniversity of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA https://designjusticeatpitt.weebly.com/ Design Justice for Black Lives University of Maryland College Park, USA PDF Do the Work: Demands for Action and Accountability in the MIT Department of Architecture Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA https://nomas.mit.edu/do-the-work-demands&nbsp;(no longer active) GSAPP RespondsColumbia University, New York, New York, USA&nbsp;https://gsappresponds.cargo.site (no longer active) Letter to the AAP Community and Dean Meejin Yoon Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA Architects Newspaper article Notes on Credibility Harvard Graduate School of Design, Cambridge, MA https://notesoncredibility.cargo.site&nbsp;(no longer active) On Dismantling Systemic Anti-Black Racism University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada https://mail.danielsdobetter.com (no longer active) On the Futility of Listening Columbia University, New York, New York, USA https://onthefutilityoflistening.cargo.site/ On the Impotence of NeutralityOklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA Google doc Open Letter on Anti-Racism to the PSoAPrinceton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA Google doc Open Letter to the Andrews University School of Architecture &amp; Interior Design Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan, USA&nbsp; http://dear.andrewsarchitecture.com/ Open Letter to YSoA in Support of BLM Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA https://blmysoa.cargo.site/ (no longer active) &nbsp;Re: SALA’s Statement: “Support for Black Lives Matter” University of British Columbia, Vancouver, CanadaGoogle doc Response to the Dean of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design from Inclusion in Design University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA Google doc RISD BI+POC Student Demands for Racial Equity &amp; Inclusion Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, USA https://risdarc.cargo.site/ (no longer active) RSA Call to Action Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA Google doc Syracuse Architecture Student &amp; Alumni Response to the Killing of George Floyd Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, USA Google doc TTU Call to ActionTexas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas, USA Google doc The Design School at ASU Design Justice Initiative Arizona State University, Phoenix, Arizona, USA Google doc The Limits of Your Recognition: Race and Diversity at the Department of Architecture Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island, USA Google docInstagram post thoughts on… Tulane School of Architecture, New Orleans, Louisiana, USAtublackarchalumni.cargo.site (no longer active) UCLA Architecture and Urban Design Call to ActionUniversity of California, Los Angeles, USA&nbsp; https://audcalltoaction.cargo.site (no longer active) &nbsp;University of Florida SoA Call to Action University of Florida, Tallahassee, USA Google doc University of Waterloo School of Architecture Racial Equity and Environmental Justice Task ForceUniversity of Waterloo, Ontario, CA PDF Unlearning Whiteness Columbia University, New York, New York, USA&nbsp; https://unlearningwhiteness.cargo.site/ USC ROSKI - Black Student Demands University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USAhttps://inclusiveinitiative.wixsite.com/mysite&nbsp; UTSOA Undergraduate Demands For EquityUniversity of Texas, Austin, USA Google doc We find ourselves in a time when history seems to be repeating itself. University of Kansas, Lawrence, USA Instagram post &nbsp;WHERE IS DAL ARCH?Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, CA&nbsp; https://whereisdalarch.cargo.site/Letter-to-The-Administration https://eg-de.org/About Mon, 04 Jan 2021 21:21:56 +0000 emergent grounds for design education https://eg-de.org/About About This collective is structured laterally to ensure the representation of diverse identities, institutions and professions, within a democratized leadership structure. Individuals can volunteer to be a part of smaller, core groups which organize public projects with review from the collective. We have been organizing in various formation since the spring of 2020.&nbsp; Our name reflects the historical truth that demands for justice and equity in design education are not new but deeply rooted, and that our success will come through decentralized, networked organizing that author adrienne maree brown names ‘emergence’.&nbsp;Read more about emergence here. Emergent Grounds’ Co-Facilitators and FriendsCurrent Co-Facilitators (Summer 2023) My-Anh Nguyen Michelle Barrett Chris DaemmrichFriends, contributors and collaborators since the spring of 2020 have included, but are not limited to: Catherine W., Kaylan M., Monica D., Wandy P., Kekeli D., Keristen E., Bryan B. Amna K., Brenda T., Andrew D., Blake F., Claire J., Shaela N., Lashayla L., Darien W., Kendall N., Edson C., Bz Z., Ricardo M., Renata H., Julia W., Prescott R… Emergent Grounds is financially supported byThe Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts. Founded in 1956, the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts fosters the development and exchange of diverse and challenging ideas about architecture and its role in the arts, culture, and society.Project STAND (Student Activism Now Documented). Project STAND is a radical grassroots archival consortia project creating collections highlighting student activism in marginalized communities. Our funding from Project STAND comes through a Micro-Grant issued in collaboration with the Atlanta University Center Woodruff Library. https://eg-de.org/Past-Surveys Mon, 21 Dec 2020 23:05:14 +0000 emergent grounds for design education https://eg-de.org/Past-Surveys Past Surveys In 2020-21, in partnership with Design as Protest Student Organizing (DAP-SO), our initial internal research comprised of a brief survey to catalog the responses from academic institutions. Responses to the survey were used to record and compare strategies from various institutions. View the DAP x EGDE Actions Survey here. https://eg-de.org/Take-Action Fri, 29 Jul 2022 03:41:11 +0000 emergent grounds for design education https://eg-de.org/Take-Action Take Action Ongoing Interviews&nbsp; The Emergent Grounds Archive has grown organically from the earliest months of our collective, in which organizers across institutions and geographies came together to share our strategies as design students and practitioners demanding racial justice before, during and after the summer of 2020. The archive will collect narratives from student organizers past and present. Have you participated in a letter writing campaign or other organizing effort to decolonize design education? Interested in being a part of this project? Use this form to share your contact information. From Penitentiary Philosophies to Abolitionist Alternatives [PPAA] Teach-Ins In the summer of 2021, we found ourselves returning often to conversations about the abolition of policing and prisons. Inspired by engagements with organizers we met through networks of Design as Protest (DAP), and driven by carceral work we found ourselves tasked with in our day jobs, we worked with members of TAL’s Racial Justice Working Group to adapt an existing workshop on carceral design into ‘From Penitentiary Philosophies to Abolitionist Alternatives’ (PPAA), a 1.5 hour interactive teach-in designed to bring students, alumni, educators, practitioners and activists into conversation with each other around questions of carceral design, abolitionist advocacy, student and emergent practitioner agency. We have hosted three PPAA teach-ins: October 2021: The Design School at ASU, NOMA Arizona, TAL Phoenix February 2022: UC Berkeley NOMAS, SFNOMA, TAL Bay AreaApril 2022: Tulane School of Architecture, members of Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson’s Transition Teams We are immensely grateful to the educators, students and practitioners who participated, and especially to those who took part in organizing these teach-ins with us - especially the late Prescott Reavis, whose support was instrumental in shaping the series, and to whom our February workshop is dedicated. https://eg-de.org/Statement-of-Intent Mon, 21 Dec 2020 19:38:10 +0000 emergent grounds for design education https://eg-de.org/Statement-of-Intent <img width="1200" height="1800" width_o="1200" height_o="1800" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b2d049047a65683e4df6fff7059e1279f43c14be7b95f84cc76cb1bd1b9777ca/Demita-Fraizer.jpg" data-mid="93940674" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b2d049047a65683e4df6fff7059e1279f43c14be7b95f84cc76cb1bd1b9777ca/Demita-Fraizer.jpg" /> <img width="1024" height="700" width_o="1024" height_o="700" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d738d41c3403fb90c94c22b2b7273f4f349e148a4d77be196c17e23b96e93063/bid-organizers.jpg" data-mid="95000730" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d738d41c3403fb90c94c22b2b7273f4f349e148a4d77be196c17e23b96e93063/bid-organizers.jpg" /> <img width="584" height="467" width_o="584" height_o="467" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/32b89083b78d9bd526fe8005fde2123f8045d2a9fcfc99693bfb209ce8ac9fb8/johnson-nyu.jpg" data-mid="93940676" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/584/i/32b89083b78d9bd526fe8005fde2123f8045d2a9fcfc99693bfb209ce8ac9fb8/johnson-nyu.jpg" /> <img width="760" height="428" width_o="760" height_o="428" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8bc3b08f45617f45d0bb77c3c033886070a024903d53e260386f397cd4ff24b5/EPI2_PART_2.focal-760x428.jpg" data-mid="93940675" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/760/i/8bc3b08f45617f45d0bb77c3c033886070a024903d53e260386f397cd4ff24b5/EPI2_PART_2.focal-760x428.jpg" /> <img width="287" height="320" width_o="287" height_o="320" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/166ab61707067ef72e0bf49ee3794d774866eb24d14bf394a6e2f359ac0ed09c/arch-1970.jpg" data-mid="93940673" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/287/i/166ab61707067ef72e0bf49ee3794d774866eb24d14bf394a6e2f359ac0ed09c/arch-1970.jpg" /> “Our very presence is a disruption.”&nbsp; — bell hooks, ‘Choosing the Margin as a Space for Radical Openness’ Images (clockwise from upper left): Trans liberation leader Marsha P. Johnson flyers in solidarity with gay students, NYU, 1970, in front of Bobst Library construction site; Philip Johnson, Bobst Library’s architect and noted White supremacist, at the building’s opening in 1973; Combahee River Collective co-founder Demita Fraizer at a rally in Boston, 1979; community design and planning practice at the Architects’ Renewal Committee in Harlem (ARCH), 1970; organizers of the 2015 Harvard GSD African American Student Union (AASU) Black in Design Conference, 2015 Emergent Grounds for Design Education (EGDE) is an interdisciplinary collective of architectural designers, educators, advocates, artists &amp; dreamers living across the colonized North American continent. &nbsp;We organize and educate to advance racial justice among students and emergent practitioners from our positions as recent alums of US architecture and design schools. Our school leaders’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and murders of Black Americans by police in the summer of 2020 motivated students, alumni, faculty and administrators to demand recognition of past and ongoing harm. Our cogenerated archive of letters and lists of demands allows us to hear our friends in long-ago times and distant place, to see how our ideas build on each other, and to understand our collective vision for antiracist, anticolonial, feminist built environment education.&nbsp;