Posts by Culturally Enriched Communities

Dear colleagues,  Every semester, I ask students in my class, “How many of you read the news daily?” Three or four hands go up from a cohort of about 40 students. Caring and being connected to the neighborhoods, cities, and the world in which one lives is instrumental to the creation of Culturally Enriched Communities,…

Dear colleagues,  People’s ingenuity in creating spaces for quarantine and self-isolation struck me while collecting design interventions from around the world for www.cec-design.com/covid-19 – from treehouses to separated bedrooms and bathrooms that kept elders and other family members safely protected. Basements also emerged as suitable spaces for quarantine, the most famous one probably being Chris Cuomo‘s who continued reporting from his basement for CNN…

Dear colleagues,  This Harvard Business Review article on “The Implications of Working Without an Office” reveals the opportunities that lie ahead as we rethink what work and workplaces can mean in our lives. After surveying over 600 U.S.-based white-collar employees, the study concluded that “most white-collar employees we studied made the transition to virtual work well; in fact,…

Dear colleagues,  What we do matters, but how and why we do it matters even more. The challenge, as Solon declared around 550BC, is unlearning old habits. Hundreds of cancer patients‘ treatments have been impacted by the pandemic, including mine. Breast cancer came into my life at a pivotal point in my career, right before I was promoted to Full Professor. With three…

Dear colleagues,  On July 6, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) created a directive which would require non-immigrant students (F-1 and M-1 visas) who take a fully online course load this Fall to immediately leave the United States. The University of Minnesota joined other institutions around the country to voice our commitment to international students through a lawsuit,…

Dear colleagues,  CDC guidelines for reopening heavily rely on cleaning and disinfecting, both of which intersect with the creation of healthy and connected communities in which everyone can thrive, because: They involve design elements frequently touched, such as tables, doorknobs, light switches, counter tops, handles, desks, phones, keyboards, toilets, faucets and sinks, gas pump handles, and touch…

Dear colleagues,  Many of us are struggling to make sense of our times, to decide what to take on and what to leave out or what to say and how to say it. All that can be exhausting. In a recent BBC article on “The real reason lockdown is exhausting,” Kathleen Vohs, a University of Minnesota…

Dear colleagues,  As we reflect on the role design can play in moving toward recovery from the pandemic and global racial justice, lessons from Copenhagen might help us set a trajectory. Copenhagen is one of WHO’s Healthy Cities in a country that consistently ranks among the top in the World Happiness Report. The report is produced by the UnitedNations Sustainable Development…

Dear colleagues,  Yesterday, the Supreme Court rejected efforts to end legal protections for young immigrants under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Blanca Morales is a poster child for DACA and her story marks the introductory and conclusion chapters of The Right to Home – Exploring How Culture, Space, and Identity Intersect with Disparities. I…