EP 49: Designing Decolonization | Dori Tunstall

Design Lab with Bon Ku

Dr. Dori Tunstall joined Ontario College of Art & Design University in 2016, as Dean of Design. As part of the senior management team, she plays a vital role in steering aspects of the academic and administrative agendas within the Faculty of Design, as well as related research, outreach, fundraising and operational activities. As the university has initiated the challenge of decolonizing its institution, Dori advocates and communicates how Respectful Design serves the appropriate design ethos for this process. Dori is a design anthropologist, public intellectual, and design advocate who works at the intersections of critical theory, culture, and design. She leads the Cultures-Based Innovation Initiative focused on using old ways of knowing to drive innovation processes that directly benefit communities. With a global career, Dori served as 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. Bon talks with Dori about her journey from anthropology to design, role of design in new technologies and how we can decolonize design.