Designing Women

Every semester different ARCH 3700 Seminar in History and Theory courses are taught and architecture students must complete at least one prior to graduation. This course is meant to allow for investigation related to theories, schools or periods to examine the potential and limitations of architecture.

In the fall 2021 semester, Associate Dean Karen Rogers, PhD taught a Seminar course she called “Designing Women.” Students in this seminar course researched the role and impact of women in design professions around the world and throughout history. Using a method typically employed for curating museum exhibitions, students defined the criteria and parameters of their own exhibitions related to women in design, and developed and produced a catalog. The course benefited from the participation of guest lectures presented by ten women currently practicing in different design professions around the United States.

Dean Rogers said, “The idea for this course came from a CADC alum who had the amazing idea to post about a different woman designer every day for a year during the COVID shut down. His effort highlighted the number of women designers whose work is unknown and underappreciated. The students did an inspired job of researching and recognizing a number of these and other women designers. We all learned a lot, and the guest lecturers contributed insight, inspiration and a broad range of perspectives on the role of women in contemporary design.”