Surfacing Institutional Contexts of Design Education.

In this session, we invite design educators to discuss how their institutional contexts constrain and empower possibilities for design pedagogies, curricula, and impact. Since the early 20th century, design schools have thrived in the space where ethics, markets, and creativity meet. Yet, in 2025, this space grows increasingly uncomfortable as design educators in universities across the globe face threats to academic freedom and trends toward neoliberalization, austerity, and a demand for academia to provide a ‘return-on-investment.’

While these issues might be widespread, they play out differently in local settings. We aim for this Design Education Futures session to serve as a platform for conversation where educators can both critique and converse about how they’re “playing” with academic institutions to address the tension between educating designer citizens and marketable designers.

The session will consist of three 20-minute conversations around provocations related to academic institutions and design education: 1) Experiences of Educators; 2) Perceptions of Students; and 3) Possibilities in Practice

(Acknowledging the contribution from Marzia Aricò,Independent Scholar and Founder of Design Mavericks)