A facilitated course viewing and live Q&A with BIPOC Design History that challenges dominant design narratives.

Criticized for its lack of diversity, the design history canon has sought to redeem itself by integrating a ‘global’ notion to make up for excluding the histories of nations in the Global South. But what constitutes a global design history and why are certain people representative of an entire region?

This lecture presents ‘global’ design as a myth, an Anglospheric invention that embellishes the existing canon through terms dictated by the dominant design narratives of the Global North.

The course The “Myth” of Global Design History is taught by Danah Abdulla, a Palestinian designer, educator, and researcher currently based in London, UK. The conversations that took place during the live streaming of this class was in the summer of 2023, during the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestine by the illegal settlement of Israel. As we gather to discuss, untangle, and unlearn the design histories that have been passed down to us by institutions, we’re also fostering a safe space for difficult dialogues and conversations to take place. As Palestine continues to face genocide, how can we highlight, uplift, and share their narratives to ensure that these histories don’t get violently erased and forgotten?

This class is from the BIPOC Design History course series Design Histories in the Southwest Asia & North Africa: Voices from the SWANA Diaspora 12th – 21st Century: "a course that highlights the diversity of our communities and puts forward the most vulnerable in our liberation. For the SWANA region, that means highlighting, uplifting, and specifically amplifying the voices of women who are often unheard. This course will challenge dominant narratives that are often written about us and not by us; visualized as a non-monolithic experience, these classes will share the visual culture and histories of the varied Arab identities."

Seating is limited and pricing is based on a sliding scale ($5-$40):

• $5 for students, unemployed practitioners

• $10 for entry-level practitioners and/or those with less income (around $35K/year)

• $20 for mid-career practitioners and/or those with moderate, sustained income (around $50K/year)

• $40 for late-career practitioners and/or those with high income (around $75K/year or above)