Ninth International Conference on The Constructed Environment

Abstract

As societies increasingly strive to accommodate people who are transgender and/or non-binary, there is a corresponding increased demand for inclusively and innovatively designed facilities that serve a variety of purposes. This increased demand presents an additional challenge for architects, designers, engineers, et al., who must already master a wealth of disciplinary knowledge and who overwhelmingly identify as cisgender. Consequently, I argue that this presents an opportunity for fruitful collaboration between STEM fields and composition, a field in the humanities. This is because composition is a discipline that emphasizes learning through immersion in, and engagement with, multiple perspectives. Furthermore, composition already partners with STEM departments at countless universities to enhance STEM students’ empathic and communicative skills. This paper argues for and demonstrates a course design for a university-level STEM composition class. Specifically, this class would help students synthesize concepts in gender theory and critical theory with their disciplinary interests and knowledge, with an emphasis on practical applications of these syntheses through student-centered spatial design projects. This course design draws largely from Judith Butler’s theorizing on gender performativity, Alexander and Rhodes’ theorizing on multiperspectival cultural narratives, and practical writing exercises from my own praxis.