Join author, Elizabeth (Dori) Tunstall and Jason E.C. Wright, director of the Burntsienna Research Society on August 31, 2023 from 6:30pm to 9:00pm as they discuss her new book Decolonizing Design: A Cultural Justice Guidebook (MIT Press 2023).

Dori will address how by putting Indigenous first and avoiding supertokens, people can make amends for how modernist design, in its European-based guises, has excluded and oppressed the very Indigenous, Black, and People of Color cultural communities whose lands and lives it reshaped. Jason will engage with Dori to contextualize the book’s ideas within the struggles for decolonization and diversity and inclusion in Los Angeles, on the unceded lands of the Tongva people. The event marks the LA launch of the book and kicks off her 11-city Fall 2023 global book tour.

About Elizabeth (Dori) Tunstall

Dr. Elizabeth (Dori) Tunstall is a design anthropologist, author of Decolonizing Design: A Cultural Justice Guidebook, and an organizational design catalyst and executive coach. A recognized leader in the decolonization of art and design education, she received the 2022 Sir Misha Black Award for Distinguished Service to Design Education as well as the inaugural BADG of Honour for Design Education from the Black Artists and Designers Guild.

With a global career, Dori served as the Dean of Design at Ontario College of Art and Design University in Canada, where she was the first black and black female dean of a faculty of design anywhere. She was an Associate Professor of Design Anthropology and Associate Dean at Swinburne University in Australia. She wrote the biweekly column Un-Design for The Conversation Australia. In the U.S., she taught at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She organized the U.S. National Design Policy Initiative and served as a director of Design for Democracy. Industry positions included UX strategists for Sapient Corporation and Arc Worldwide. Dori holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Stanford University and a BA in Anthropology from Bryn Mawr College.

About Jason E.C. Wright

Jason E.C. Wright is a design researcher, photographer, educator, and artbook enthusiast. As a design researcher and educator, Wright applies over twenty years of experience in boutique retail, product development and fashion production into teaching at FIDM in downtown Los Angeles. As a photographer, he documents spaces and places through Burntsienna Field Research excursions and photo-journals. Wright also contributes as a thought leader and writer in various spaces and publications.As founder and director at Burntsienna Research Society, Wright leads the building of reading rooms and programming around art and design books (Burntsienna Reading Rooms, Burntsienna Artbook Review), and the teaching of principles on responsible research and design thinking (The Burntsienna Standards). Operating since 2018, Burntsienna Research Society is based in Los Angeles, on the unceded lands of the Tongva people.

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LOCATION

Alina Los Angeles
700 W. 9th Street, 4th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90015
Ample parking lots available in the area. Located two blocks away from the 7th Street Metro Station. Fully accessible building.

TICKETS

Early Bird Admission: $10
(Early bird tickets are available until 11:59 PM PT on August 20. The first 5 attendees to register for early bird tickets will receive a free copy of Dori’s book.)
Students: $10
(Students must register with an .edu or similar email. The first 5 students to register will receive a free copy of Dori’s book.)
AIGA Members: $15
Non-members: $20

ADDITIONAL EVENT INFORMATION

Light catering provided. Dry (non-alcoholic) event.

SOCIAL MEDIA

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TERMS OF PARTICIPATION AGREEMENT

By registering and attending/participating at this event, you grant AIGA Los Angeles permission to capture photo/audio/video of the event and the right to use any image, photograph, voice, or likeness, without limitation, in its promotional materials and publicity efforts without compensation. All media from this event will become the property of AIGA Los Angeles. Media may be displayed, distributed, or used by AIGA Los Angeles for any purpose.

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