Design and displacement

DHS 2018: Design and Displacement

6 September 2018

Parsons School of Design, New York

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that in 2016, some 65.6 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide - a number not seen since the end of World War II. On average, 20 people were driven from their homes every minute. The challenges faced by vast numbers of migrants and refugees uprooted by war, persecution, ecological crises, natural disasters, or even relocating in search of economic opportunity, are often urgent, and, unfortunately, all too familiar.

The movement of populations has spurred - and continues to spur - great changes in the cultural landscape in general and design in particular, both positive and problematic. Displacement creates opportunities for cross-cultural dialogues and inspires design solutions, whether they be related to objects used for disaster relief, temporary housing for displaced persons during wartime or following natural disasters, or more substantial and lasting interventions into the landscape, such as the exponential and necessary growth of cities.

Taking place from 6-8 September 2018, this conference will examine displacement and attendant issues from a design perspective. In addition to the current displacement of people and populations, papers can consider the theme more broadly and historically, including connections among displacement of objects and styles, changing technologies, and broad geographies and histories related to landscapes and urban development.

Call for Papers

We invite contributions from design historians, scholars, and academics in related fields, as well as practitioners, design educators, museum professionals, and students. Topics might deal with such issues as:

• Design and the Displacement of Peoples
• Issues of immigration and emigration
• Camps and disaster relief
• Colonialism, post-colonialism, and the displacement or replacement of cultures
• Exiles and exile culture
• Passports and borders
• Asylum seekers and climate refugees
• Displacement of Objects and Styles
• The history of museums and travelling exhibitions
• Collecting and collections, displacing objects from one context to another
• Debates over the repatriation of artifacts
• Expositions and World’s Fairs as institutions of decontextualizing objects and people
• Reuse or misuse
• Recycling or upcycling as a form of displacement
• Transference or forgeries
• Exchange
• Exoticism and appropriation of styles
• Cycles of fashion
• The Design of Displacement
• Urban sprawl
• Gentrification and displacement within cities
• Moving or removing monuments
• Landscape design and earthworks
• Technological upgrades
• Changing approaches in design pedagogy and education
• Innovation and disruption

Individual papers of 20 minutes, or proposals for full panels of three papers related to the samples or relevant to the theme of displacement, will be considered. Panel proposals must include abstracts for all three papers, in addition to a short description of the panel theme.

All proposals will be double-blind reviewed and selected by the conference committee. 

Submissions are due Monday 29 January 2018.

More information at the DHS 2018 website.