Abstract
The first section of this paper presents a decade long exploration of implementing a liberal arts approach to interactive design pedagogy in higher education. College students in recent decades have been shunning liberal arts and the decreasing number of undergraduates pursuing bachelor’s degrees in liberal arts has led to the weakening of liberal arts in Undergraduate General Education curriculum. As academic prioritization promoted more job-oriented disciplines, this known practice of integrating liberal arts component into technological-focused courses has been applied. Furthermore, it was in this teaching experience that I, a design educator, also became educated through persistent learning and searching for wisdom. Not only does this gradual intellectual transformation helped my students to reach better learning outcomes, but also inspired me to embark on an unexpected journey of creating two award-winning projects—Jiang Jian and Cradlr. The second section consists of case studies of the two interconnected projects. On the one hand, it unveils the forgotten story of an extraordinary woman Jiang Jian and the Mothers’ Movement in China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. On the other hand, it presents Cradlr: An Interaction Design for Refugee Children, which is a human-centered digital product and network concept designed to keep displaced children—a vulnerable population without cell phones—connected with their families, resources, and heritage on a global scale. Cradlr was inspired by the Mothers’ Movement in China and the Women’s Voluntary Service (WVS) in the UK during World War II, in search of a humanitarian solution for a complex ongoing social challenge.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Creativity, Liberal Arts, Interactive Design, Humanities, Pedagogy, Mothers’ Movement, Refugee
