Think tank brings together designers, scholars to plan interdisciplinary design institute for high school students

The Summer Residential Interdisciplinary Design Institute (SRIDI), which received initial funding from the Sara Little Turnbull Foundation, will kick off its development phase with a think tank involving national and local academic, interdisciplinary and equity leaders on March 27–29 on the Penn State University Park campus.

Folayemi Wilson, associate dean for access and equity in the College of Arts and Architecture at Penn State, conceived the SRIDI with a goal of introducing more Pennsylvania high school students to various arts and design professional disciplines. The think tank is phase I of the SRIDI initiative, which is also being funded by the College of Arts and Architecture. Phase II involves a fundraising campaign that will fund a pilot of the institute for phase III.

The think tank will be led by Wilson and facilitated by Soo La Kim, assistant dean of graduate programs in the School of Professional Studies at Northwestern University. Participants will consider the skill sets and competencies required for 21st-century design practitioners and the distinct aptitudes needed to produce original and innovative solutions to today’s challenges. They will also address how the institute can leverage the unique lived experiences of underrepresented students while encouraging just values in the design industry and positioning the students to excel.

Think tank participants include:

• Kenneth Bailey, co-founder, Design Studio for Social Intervention, Boston, MA
• Mindy Cooper, principal, dwg., Austin, TX
• Felecia Davis, director, SOFTLAB, and associate professor of architecture, Penn State Stuckeman School/College of Arts and Architecture
• Arem Duplessis, creative director, Apple, San Francisco, CA, and 2023 National Design Awardee for Communication Design
• Colette Gaiter, professor emerita of Africana studies and art & design at the University of Delaware, Newark, DE
• Joshua Mallard, composer and adjunct lecturer in game audio, Penn State School of Music/College of Arts and Architecture
• Jasmine McNealy, attorney, critical public interest technologist, social scientist and professor, Department of Media Production, Management and Technology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
• Silas Munro, founder, Polymode design studio, Los Angeles, CA, and Raleigh, NC
• Milagros Ponce de León, scenic designer and associate professor/head of B.F.A. in scenic design and technology, Penn State School of Theatre/College of Arts and Architecture
• Erica Quinn, executive director, 3 Dots Downtown, State College, PA
• Bess Williamson, associate professor of design studies, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
• Alexander Pratt, assistant professor, Department of Elementary and Early Childhood Education, Penn State Altoona
• Katie Zielinski, founding faculty, Mastery School of Hawken, Cleveland, OH

Wilson said she looks forward to working with the think tank participants to develop an inspiring program that would serve as a pathway for students to the College of Arts and Architecture.

“I am excited to welcome these exceptional leaders to our campus to collaborate on developing a forward-looking curriculum that can inspire and nurture the next generation of design professionals,” said Wilson. “We will be developing a set of learning objectives around a distinctive pedagogy meant to cultivate competencies essential to contemporary creative practices, as well as develop leadership capacity and create pathways into our college from the greater Commonwealth.”