Challenge: Graduate design students needed more than theory: they needed direct connection to real-world design practice and the critical debates shaping the field. The gap between academic design education and industry practice was leaving students unprepared for the ethical complexities and interdisciplinary nature of contemporary design work.

Approach: I co-designed and co-taught Debates in Design, a lecture + colloquium course that brings 8-10 industry leaders and design thinkers into dialogue with 50 graduate students each semester. Speakers span disciplines (data, environment, graphic design, industrial design, architecture, social practice, and political science), reflecting the reality that design problems don't respect traditional boundaries.

The course structure combines guest lectures with structured debate. Students receive topics in advance and are assigned positions (for or against) that they must defend in live classroom debates, pushing them beyond their comfort zones and building the argumentative skills designers need in professional practice.

We curate speakers specifically for their engagement with ethical technology and responsible design. Guests have included Mike Monteiro, Alex Hanna, Xiaowei Wang, and Jaron Lanier. Ethics isn't a sidebar; it's woven into speaker selection, presentation prompts, debate topics, and classroom discussion.

Impact: The course bridges Berkeley's MDes program and design practice, giving students a grounded understanding of the real design industry. They learn to identify emerging debates, understand where their work fits within broader discourse, and approach their studies with clarity about the field they're entering.

The series reinforces the program's commitment to ethical practice, ensuring that the next generation of designers enters the field equipped to question, debate, and advocate for responsible design.