Design and the National Agenda

Abstract

On May 19–20, 2011, the Design Frontiers Symposium: Crossing Boundaries, Creating Disciplines was hosted at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, with participants from industry and academia, as an informal forum to discuss and develop ideas and strategies to support design. An organizing theme was the question of whether design is recognized on the national agenda (in the United States but also in other countries) as a vehicle for economic and social progress. Most of the deliberations took place in small group discussions, motivated by some quick idea-generation remarks by a few participants.