ADVOCACY IN EDUCATION

from ACTIVATING DESIGN ACTION'S 5 GUIDING PRINCIPLES

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

● While it is permissible to teach classes with a cultural focus (e.g. Kathakali costumes), a program should not be diversified by creating individual classes or lectures with a racial focus (e.g. “how to design for Asian performers”). ● It is essential that the curriculum be developed along a spectrum of skin tones and not emphasize racial categorization. ○ Skin tones and racial identities may vary considerably even among people from a particular country or geographic area, and many people are multiracial. ○ Race is socially constructed and biological features are not neatly separable. ○ For example, we recommend teaching about makeup considerations for performers with olive undertones of varying strength, not for specific races that the instructor considers to have strong olive undertones.

We must also begin to decolonize our design processes. North American academic institutions teach design processes through a western lens. It is key that we keep an open mind and understand that different cultures have different approaches to design. ● For example, in non-western traditions: ○ The ultimate authority may lie with master artists. ○ Ways of knowing may be passed down through genealogy. ○ The performance itself may be tied to the natural environment rather than a theater building. ○ The designer and performer may be an intertwined role. ● Academic programs engaging in cultural or intercultural performances should always pay great attention to the design process of traditional forms and represent these processes in their curriculum. ● A design curriculum should cover the different meanings that cultures assign to color, arrangements, symbols, and other aesthetics.