ENVDES 151
Data, Design and Activism
This course explores relationships between data, design and activism, raising critical questions about what data and data analytics are; what design is; and how both data and design can serve to protect the status quo as well as become agents of change. In turn, the course also surveys the ways in which activism has historically played a role in data analysis and design practice at the scales of planning, architecture, landscape, and cities. Through lectures, readings, and exercises, students explore data/design activism or the use of data analytics and design interventions to catalyze change.
Topics
- To understand applications of architecture, landscape architecture, and city planning through the social context of data and design interventions. To understand the implications of environmental design in local, national, and global settings. To understand major debates in the literature of data and design activism. To recognize the value of sustainability at all levels of data analytics and design. To develop effective communication skills - graphic, written, and verbal. To gain familiarity with the language and process of data analysis and design through media including mapping, visualization, drawing and making.
Official catalogue course objectives and student learning outcomes
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026-2027