Community and Practitioner Collaboration in a Liberal Arts Approach to Human-Centered Design

FAIN: AKB-298414-24

Whitman College (Walla Walla, WA 99362-2067)
Sharon Alker (Project Director: September 2023 to present)
Janet Davis (Co Project Director: September 2023 to present)
Michelle Janning (Co Project Director: April 2024 to present)

A two-year program of curricular and faculty development for a new interdisciplinary concentration in human-centered design.

After two years of institutionally funded planning, Whitman College, an undergraduate liberal arts institution of 1500 students located in Walla Walla, WA, is launching a new interdisciplinary academic concentration in Human-Centered Design (HCD), in 2023-24. Students will be able to take the introductory course for the concentration (HCD 101) for the first time in Spring 2024. We request two years of NEH support for our faculty to design, refine, enhance, and implement three components of the program that will expand the intellectual and curricular impact of the program—the upper-level capstone course (HCD 497) and Deepening courses, a community-engaged Collaborative Practice Experience, and a Designer-in-Residence program. This NEH implementation project will create new and inspiring ways for the humanities to integrate productively with non-humanities disciplines at higher conceptual levels.