DEL in Between (PR): Digital Creative Reconstruction & Social Design Tools

What is DEL in Between (PR)?

DEL in Between (PR) is a monthly peer-reviewed webinar series exploring emerging topics in art and design higher education. It is organised by DEL Conference, a collective of colleagues across Parsons School of Design, Penn State, Texas State University, University of the Arts London.

Learn more about DEL.

What's on this month?

Digital Creative Reconstruction: Bridging Cultural Heritage, Interactive Media, and Higher Education

Presenter: Danial Ezzati, University Specialist (University of Connecticut)

In the digital age, cultural heritage risks misrepresentation or erasure, particularly for underrepresented communities. Digital Creative Reconstruction is a methodology that integrates game design, immersive storytelling, and interactive technologies to preserve and reinterpret historical narratives. This presentation explores how this methodology was applied in TIME: Journey to Nowruz, a game that revives Persian cultural heritage through VR/XR, gamification, and environmental storytelling. By blending historical accuracy with creative expression, this approach challenges digital colonization while fostering cultural engagement, education, and participation.This session will discuss how higher education, design, and digital media can benefit from this methodology to create inclusive, interactive learning experiences. It will provide insights into gamification for cultural education, immersive design strategies, and digital heritage preservation, demonstrating how such approaches can be integrated into academic curricula, museum exhibitions, and digital storytelling frameworks.

We have no choice, we need social design for everyone: A Granular Visual Toolkit for Social Design Education

Presenter: Jonathan Ventura, Associate Professor (PhD)/Director of the Unit for History and Philosophy (Shenkar - Engineering. Design. Art.)

In this session, we share a newly developed concept - a dynamic, digital system of modules aimed at helping BA design educators, who consider themselves novices in social design, implement modules of social design into their courses. Based on the teacher’s previous knowledge of social design, and the intended impact on the students, these modules are structured around 5 key layers: theoretical worlds, methodologies, design projects, key concepts and definitions, and preferred practices. In this manner, designers from all sub-disciplines of design, new to social design can pick and choose modules or sub-modules relevant to their course and imbue these principles in their lessons. Through this innovative approach, we wish to broaden the use of social design practices in BA programs and help educators understand their potential for our shared future. This platform was develop for the Social Design Network, which we are a part of.

What's on next?

Explore the rest of the DEL in Between (PR) collection to sign up upcoming sessions.

Do you have any questions?

Email us at delconference@arts.ac.uk