About
We live in a complex world.
Complex communities. Complex individuals. Complex technologies and systems attempting to solve complex issues. At the Center for Socially Engaged Design, we believe complexity must be addressed using multiple perspectives. How? By asking intentional questions. By engaging with others. By considering the broader context of design. By applying rigorous, collaborative design processes. By
co-creating solutions with the people and communities who will use them. The result? Solutions that
are more contextually relevant. More sustainable. And more complete.
Welcome to C-SED. Let’s design for this complex world, together.
We Research, Educate, and Practice
We are constantly researching best practices in education and positive real-world change. How might we work with you? These are common examples.
- Customized workshops for your course or student team to build and apply specific socially engaged design skills.
- C-SED Courses which allow you to put your new skills to work with community stakeholders, locally and around the globe.
- Socially Engaged Design Academy (SEDA) combines asynchronous online learning with in-person practice.
- Innovation in Action, a campus-wide program giving groups the opportunity, the tools, the people, and the room to take on the world’s biggest challenges.
- Design Jams, a quick, engaging and energizing 4-hour experience centered around a stakeholder challenge.
Our approach.
Socially Engaged Design is human(ity) centered – not just user centered. We consider broad contexts through an equity-centered lens that impact the practice of engineering, including social, cultural, political, economic, and environmental factors that can completely change the design of solutions. Further, we push designers to analyze how their own identities and cultural context shape their approach.
MEET OUR PEOPLE
Our team is dedicated to supporting designers in building a foundation in socially engaged design. Bringing diverse perspectives and expertise in a broad range of disciplines, they help drive C-SED’s environment of curiosity and collaboration to help solve real-world problems.