During times of rising polarization in many parts of the world, how might we more deeply understand different ‘truths’?

As citizens of a world that can feel increasingly fragmented, we often yearn to find common ground or find our “tribe.” As designers, we often yearn to find the common thread as we look for patterns and find affinities. We often yearn to find similarity and can default to “resolving” or “running from” difference, particularly when we feel uncertainty and insecurity.

What if we learned how to engage difference differently? What if we learned how to stand in the pocket and go deep with difference? What if we built our differencing muscles in ways that expanded our overall creative abilities?

During these times of rising polarization in many parts of the world, Design Across Borders Spring 2020 will build our design abilities by developing deep empathy across political borders for people who sit at an opposite political extreme from us and by working with people across international borders.

By engaging us to empathize across political chasms and with people we might strongly disagree with, this class will challenge us to dive deeper into difference, mastering empathy — and ourselves — through extreme circumstances. We will sharpen our abilities to be genuinely curious, withhold judgement, put ourselves in the shoes of others, and more clearly see the lenses through which we understand the world.

Your team will work digitally as a distributed team including students both at the d.school at Stanford and students at Benilde, a design school in Manila. Together, you will learn:

• How to understand “multiple truths,” how to connect with people whose views might strongly clash with yours, then building trust and deeply empathizing with them without necessarily having to agree with them.

• How to strengthen your “inner game,” see your own thinking and listen to your own emotions during difficult conversations and processing difficult material.

• How to find points of "resonance" (different from “agreement”) based on generating insights about needs/perspectives of people you might strongly disagree with.

By the end of the class, you will:

• Create a set of publishable insights and opportunities that resonate with people who sit on a different side of the political spectrum.

• Create your own guide for engaging difference, built from examples you experienced, that you will be use in your future endeavors, whatever they may be.

You will learn how to make a difference… with difference.

Learn With

Teaching Team

Contact Us

Questions?

Email Glenn (glenn.fajardo@gmail.com)