Spring ’23 DES.805 Graduate Seminar Guest Lecture Series 3: More-Than-Human Design (with Devon Ward)

For this Spring’s graduate class, DES.805 Seminar in Design Methodology, Prof. Fernando Carvalho has organized the course program around five areas of critical importance for contemporary research and practice: participatory design, design thinking, design for behavior change, decolonial design, and more-than-human design. Each of the areas is presented to the student via an introductory lecture; three of them delivered by specialized guest speakers, and two delivered by Prof Carvalho, as they relate to his own research expertise.

The introductory lectures serve to support the graduate students’ preparation and delivery of their own mini-lectures, expanding from the contents discussed and recommended readings, connecting the topics addressed with their MA Creative Work Projects, via in-class group discussions facilitated by the students.

On April 08^th, the class welcomed the third and last guest speaker of the series, Devon Ward, who discussed pedagogical approaches and shared some of his students’ projects focused on more-than-human design. Ward offered perspectives on designing for and with nature, promoting a closer relationship with materials, and highlighting the importance of valuing our sensorial experiences of the world.

Devon, a visual communication designer and artist, working as an Assistant Professor at Auburn University, used examples of his students’ works for his biodesign course that hinged on site-specificity, local/indigenous customs and knowledge, and the power of using keystone species as protagonists of compelling narratives within stories of a more sustainable future.

Following the lecture series, the last third of the semester will be devoted to students’ mini projects, whereby each student develops a theoretical or practical project focusing on one of the critical topics discuss throughout the course, applied or related to their CWPs, creative work projects (MA thesis).

Devon Ward

Devon Ward is a designer, artist, and educator who works across multiple creative fields including design, interactive media, and experimental art. He is an assistant professor of graphic design at Auburn University where he teaches design, biodesign and interactive media. His research focuses on design as an expanding field that blends new technologies, materials, theories, aesthetics, and methods to adapt to changing environments. Recent publications include “Education in the Expanded Field: Biological Design,” “The Art of Environmental Personhood,” and “Mycography and Biodesign Pedagogy: Concepts and Methods for Creating Living Posters.”