Raja Schaar's guest appearances

Raja Schaar

Design Thinking 101

Pop, the Question

Lauren Currie

Denise Ho

Doug Powell

Jason Schupbach

Steve Portigal

Fred Leichter

Natalie Foley

Arty Rivera

Rebecca Horton

Martin Dominguez

Jessica Dugan

Nathan Ritter

Dustin DiTommaso

David Dunne

Brittany Merkle

OwlTail

Raja Schaar is an industrial designer, afrofuturist and doomsday optimist. She is the Director at Drexel University's product design program and co-chair of the Industrial Designers Society of America, Diversity Equity and Inclusion Council. Listen to learn about:  Raja’s career in design Climate change and design How Raja uses science fiction and futurism in her teaching and work Black Girls STEAMing Through Dance Social Impact Design The power of design Media resources for designers wanting to explore future-thinking    Our Guest Raja Schaar, IDSA (she/her) is Director and Associate Professor of the Product Design Program at Drexel University’s Westphal Collage of Media Arts and Design. She co-chairs IDSA’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council is the past Education Director for the organization. Raja studies the ethical implications of design and technology through the lenses of speculative design and climate change. Her current projects address biases maternal health through wearable technology and participatory design; community-based co-design for engaging black girls and underrepresented minorities in STEM/STEAM; and generating frameworks and tools to embed Afrofuturism, biomimicry, sustainability, and climate justice into Design praxis.    Show Highlights [02:09] Raja takes us on a fun trip through her childhood “what do you want to be when you grow up?” dreams. [05:47] STEM and creativity. [06:24] How Raja ended up going into industrial design in college. [09:03] The interdisciplinary design class that changed everything. [11:37] Diving into materials life cycles and sustainability in her junior year. [13:31] Why Raja got angry at her major and wanting to change the way we do design. [16:37] Volunteering at a science museum and discovering a love of exhibition design. [17:22] Replacing the museum’s carpet tile introduced Raja to Interface, Inc. and their sustainable modular carpet system. [19:28] Product design can be ethical and sustainable and conscientious of its environmental impact. [20:38] Creating a conceptual project for the Children’s Museum of Atlanta. [21:13] Graduate school and studying critical pedagogies and looking at new ways of teaching rooted in social change. [21:59] How Raja got into teaching. [23:52] Raja talks about some of the design challenges she’s passionate about right now. [24:03] Climate change. [24:34] Economic accessibility and inclusion. [24:50] Usability. [25:27] Social impact design. [26:00] Who has access to the power of design? [28:00] Raja’s mission to open the doors of design to young black girls. [28:40] What Raja loves about design. [30:06] The true power of design. [31:14] Founding Black Girls STEAMing Through Dance at Drexel. [32:37] Looking at the effects of climate change on communities of color worldwide. [35:01] Science fiction and speculative design in Raja’s work. [35:18] Everybody’s a futurist. [36:14] Raja’s love of science fiction came from her parents. [37:08] Reading Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in an engineering ethics class. [40:25] There’s a lot to learn from science fiction’s futurist thinking. [41:41] Using ideas from science fiction in her work on climate change. [44:54] Raja calls herself a “doomsday optimist.” [49:35] Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower. [53:25] Looking at the world through the eyes of black women. [58:14] The connection between science fiction and speculative design. [58:41] Designing the future. [1:01:10] Speculative design allows us to ask deep questions. [1:01:46] The Keurig K-Cup example. [1:04:35] Speculating and futuring has to be part of how we teach and learn. [1:05:07] The importance of reflecting on our own design decisions and their potential future consequences. [1:06:36] Books and resources Raja recommends for those wanting to explore... [1:07:07] Climate change. [1:15:25] The role of technology in society. [1:16:19] Netflix’s documentary, Coded Bias. [1:30:29] Doomsday and the idea of the point of no return. [1:33:23] The Avengers’ Thanos as a hyper-violet environmentalist. [1:38:40] Thinking about where we’re at now, and what future we want?   Links Raja on LinkedIn Raja on Instagram Raja on  Drexel University Raja on IDSA Drink in Design:  Raja Schaar &amp; Ann Gerondelis on Bio-Inspired Design Tulane Taylor Center: March Design Thinking Breakfast with Raja Schaar, IDSA Coded Bias on Netflix   Book Recommendations  The Green Imperative: Ecology and Ethics in Design and Architecture, by Victor Papanek  Design for the Real World: Human Ecology and Social Change, by Victor Papanek  Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism, by Safiya Umoja Noble  Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy, by Cathy O’Neil  Design Justice: Community-Led Practices to Build the Worlds We Need, by Sasha Costanza-Chock  How Long 'til Black Future Month?: Stories, by N. K. Jemison  The Giver, by Lois Lowry  Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams  The Lorax (Classic Seuss), by Dr. Seuss   Movie/TV Recommendations For designers wanting to think about climate change: Avatar, Fern Gully, Waterworld, Elysium, Snowpiercer, The Expanse   For designers wanting to think about the role of technology in society: Minority Report, Omniscient, Interstellar   Futurist: Matrix, Terminator, Wall-E   Other Design Thinking 101 Episodes You Might Like  Speculative Design + Designing for Justice + Design Research with Alix Gerber — DT101 E27  A Designer's Journey into Designing for Health and Healthcare with Lorna Ross — DT101 E45 Working and Leading at the Intersection of Engineering, Business and Design with Kevin Bethune — DT101 E76

Raja Schaar is an industrial designer, afrofuturist and doomsday optimist. She is the Director at Drexel University's product design program and co-chair of the Industrial Designers Society of America, Diversity Equity and Inclusion Council. Listen to learn about: <ul> <li>Raja’s career in design</li> <li>Climate change and design</li> <li>How Raja uses science fiction and futurism in her teaching and work</li> <li>Black Girls STEAMing Through Dance</li> <li>Social Impact Design</li> <li>The power of design</li> <li>Media resources for designers wanting to explore future-thinking</li> </ul> Our Guest Raja Schaar, IDSA (she/her) is Director and Associate Professor of the Product Design Program at Drexel University’s Westphal Collage of Media Arts and Design. She co-chairs IDSA’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council is the past Education Director for the organization. Raja studies the ethical implications of design and technology through the lenses of speculative design and climate change. Her current projects address biases maternal health through wearable technology and participatory design; community-based co-design for engaging black girls and underrepresented minorities in STEM/STEAM; and generating frameworks and tools to embed Afrofuturism, biomimicry, sustainability, and climate justice into Design praxis.  Show Highlights [02:09] Raja takes us on a fun trip through her childhood “what do you want to be when you grow up?” dreams. [05:47] STEM and creativity. [06:24] How Raja ended up going into industrial design in college. [09:03] The interdisciplinary design class that changed everything. [11:37] Diving into materials life cycles and sustainability in her junior year. [13:31] Why Raja got angry at her major and wanting to change the way we do design. [16:37] Volunteering at a science museum and discovering a love of exhibition design. [17:22] Replacing the museum’s carpet tile introduced Raja to Interface, Inc. and their sustainable modular carpet system. [19:28] Product design can be ethical and sustainable and conscientious of its environmental impact. [20:38] Creating a conceptual project for the Children’s Museum of Atlanta. [21:13] Graduate school and studying critical pedagogies and looking at new ways of teaching rooted in social change. [21:59] How Raja got into teaching. [23:52] Raja talks about some of the design challenges she’s passionate about right now. [24:03] Climate change. [24:34] Economic accessibility and inclusion. [24:50] Usability. [25:27] Social impact design. [26:00] Who has access to the power of design? [28:00] Raja’s mission to open the doors of design to young black girls. [28:40] What Raja loves about design. [30:06] The true power of design. [31:14] Founding Black Girls STEAMing Through Dance at Drexel. [32:37] Looking at the effects of climate change on communities of color worldwide. [35:01] Science fiction and speculative design in Raja’s work. [35:18] Everybody’s a futurist. [36:14] Raja’s love of science fiction came from her parents. [37:08] Reading Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in an engineering ethics class. [40:25] There’s a lot to learn from science fiction’s futurist thinking. [41:41] Using ideas from science fiction in her work on climate change. [44:54] Raja calls herself a “doomsday optimist.” [49:35] Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower. [53:25] Looking at the world through the eyes of black women. [58:14] The connection between science fiction and speculative design. [58:41] Designing the future. [1:01:10] Speculative design allows us to ask deep questions. [1:01:46] The Keurig K-Cup example. [1:04:35] Speculating and futuring has to be part of how we teach and learn. [1:05:07] The importance of reflecting on our own design decisions and their potential future consequences. [1:06:36] Books and resources Raja recommends for those wanting to explore... [1:07:07] Climate change. [1:15:25] The role of technology in society. [1:16:19] Netflix’s documentary, Coded Bias. [1:30:29] Doomsday and the idea of the point of no return. [1:33:23] The Avengers’ Thanos as a hyper-violet environmentalist. [1:38:40] Thinking about where we’re at now, and what future we want? Links Raja on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajaschaar/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> Raja on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/raja.jaja/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a> Raja on <a href="https://drexel.edu/westphal/about/directory/SchaarRaja/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Drexel University</a> Raja on <a href="https://www.idsa.org/members/raja-schaar-idsa" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">IDSA</a> Drink in Design: <a href="https://www.crowdcast.io/e/drink-in-design-with/register" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Raja Schaar &amp; Ann Gerondelis on Bio-Inspired Design</a> Tulane Taylor Center: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-XAF0B_Eqk" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">March Design Thinking Breakfast with Raja Schaar, IDSA</a> <a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/81328723" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Coded Bias</a> on Netflix Book Recommendations <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Green-Imperative-Ecology-Ethics-Architecture/dp/0500296197" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> The Green Imperative: Ecology and Ethics in Design and Architecture</a>, by Victor Papanek <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Design-Real-World-Ecology-Social/dp/0897331532" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Design for the Real World: Human Ecology and Social Change</a>, by Victor Papanek <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Algorithms-Oppression-Search-Engines-Reinforce/dp/1479837245" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism</a>, by Safiya Umoja Noble <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Weapons-Math-Destruction-Increases-Inequality/dp/0553418831" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy</a>, by Cathy O’Neil <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Design-Justice-Community-Led-Practices-Information/dp/0262043459" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Design Justice: Community-Led Practices to Build the Worlds We Need</a>, by Sasha Costanza-Chock <a href="https://www.amazon.com/How-Long-Black-Future-Month/dp/0316491373" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> How Long 'til Black Future Month?: Stories</a>, by N. K. Jemison <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Giver-Quartet-Lois-Lowry/dp/0544336267" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> The Giver</a>, by Lois Lowry <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Philip-K-Dicks-Electric-Dreams-ebook/dp/B071K7TSYV" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams</a> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Lorax-Classic-Seuss-Dr/dp/0394823370" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> The Lorax (Classic Seuss)</a>, by Dr. Seuss Movie/TV Recommendations For designers wanting to think about climate change: Avatar, Fern Gully, Waterworld, Elysium, Snowpiercer, The Expanse For designers wanting to think about the role of technology in society: Minority Report, <a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/80220334" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Omniscient</a>, Interstellar Futurist: Matrix, Terminator, Wall-E Other Design Thinking 101 Episodes You Might Like <a href="https://fluidhive.com/speculative-design-designing-for-justice-design-research-with-alix-gerber-dt101-e27-2/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Speculative Design + Designing for Justice + Design Research with Alix Gerber — DT101 E27</a> <a href="https://fluidhive.com/a-designers-journey-into-designing-for-health-and-healthcare-with-lorna-ross-dt101-e45/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> A Designer's Journey into Designing for Health and Healthcare with Lorna Ross — DT101 E45</a> <a href="https://fluidhive.com/dt101-76/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Working and Leading at the Intersection of Engineering, Business and Design with Kevin Bethune — DT101 E76</a>

Design + Afrofuturism + Doomsday Optimism with Raja Schaar — DT101 E91

Part of the allure of science fiction, fantasy, and dystopian fiction, whether in print or on screen, is the ability to conjure up possible worlds and concepts that don't yet exist in reality. Novelists have done this for centuries, inspiring television and film adaptations to give rise to scientifically-based visions of what lies ahead. Host Dr. Melinda Lewis explores this genre of popular media with Drexel University product design professor, lifelong sci-fi and fantasy fiction enthusiast, and self-proclaimed "Doomsday optimist" Raja Schaar, unearthing the power of imagined stories to help make sense of (and potentially heal) a fractured society."Pop, the Question" is a production of Marketing &amp; Media in Pennoni Honors College at Drexel University. Recorded November 9, 2020 through virtual conferencing (Philadelphia, PA, USA).Featured Guest: Raja Schaar (Assistant Professor and Program Director, Product Design, Westphal College of Media Arts &amp; Design, Drexel University)Host and Producer: Melinda Lewis, PhD (Associate Director, Marketing &amp; Media)Dean: Paula Marantz Cohen, PhD (Dean, Pennoni Honors College)Executive Producer: Erica Levi Zelinger (Director, Marketing &amp; Media)Producer: Brian Kantorek (Assistant Director, Marketing &amp; Media)Research and Script: Melinda Lewis, PhDAudio Engineering and Editing: Brian KantorekOriginal Theme Music: Brian KantorekProduction Assistance: Noah LevineGraphic Design: Alex HotchkissLogo Design: Michal AndersonAdditional Voiceover: Malia Lewis Copyright © 2021 Drexel University

Part of the allure of science fiction, fantasy, and dystopian fiction, whether in print or on screen, is the ability to conjure up possible worlds and concepts that don't yet exist in reality. Novelists have done this for centuries, inspiring television and film adaptations to give rise to scientifically-based visions of what lies ahead. Host Dr. Melinda Lewis explores this genre of popular media with Drexel University product design professor, lifelong sci-fi and fantasy fiction enthusiast, and self-proclaimed "Doomsday optimist" Raja Schaar, unearthing the power of imagined stories to help make sense of (and potentially heal) a fractured society. "Pop, the Question" is a production of Marketing &amp; Media in Pennoni Honors College at Drexel University. Recorded November 9, 2020 through virtual conferencing (Philadelphia, PA, USA). Featured Guest: Raja Schaar (Assistant Professor and Program Director, Product Design, Westphal College of Media Arts &amp; Design, Drexel University) Host and Producer: Melinda Lewis, PhD (Associate Director, Marketing &amp; Media) Dean: Paula Marantz Cohen, PhD (Dean, Pennoni Honors College) Executive Producer: Erica Levi Zelinger (Director, Marketing &amp; Media) Producer: Brian Kantorek (Assistant Director, Marketing &amp; Media) Research and Script: Melinda Lewis, PhD Audio Engineering and Editing: Brian Kantorek Original Theme Music: Brian Kantorek Production Assistance: Noah Levine Graphic Design: Alex Hotchkiss Logo Design: Michal Anderson Additional Voiceover: Malia Lewis Copyright © 2021 Drexel University

Dystopian Science Fiction’s Past, Present, and Futures (S4-E32, Raja Schaar)