DEA 4403

Technopoetics-Designing Tomorrow

Course Description

Course information provided by the 2026-2027 Catalog.

Today’s advancements in technologies such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and robotics are rapidly transforming human experiences. In response, this course, drawing on Speculative Design and Design Futures, engages students in hands-on design inquiries to critically examine emerging technologies (especially AI) and their implications. Borrowing from the arts, critical design, and science fiction, the course challenges students to prototype alternative technological futures and interrogate how these innovations redefine design paradigms, the ethical boundaries of technology, and the evolving responsibilities of designers in the future. *This year, the course will focus on AI. Students will be tasked with creating a design prototype that integrates AI in a meaningful and thought-provoking way.

Prerequisites for Design and Environmental Analysis (DEA) students: DEA 1101; DEA 1140; DEA 1150; DEA 2730; DEA 2201 or DEA 2203; DEA 3301 or DEA 3308. Prerequisites for non-Design and Environmental Analysis (DEA) students: INFO 3450 or DEA 2730 or equivalent.

Enrollment Information Enrollment preference given to: Design and Environmental Analysis (DEA) seniors.

Last 4 Terms Offered 2026SP

Learning Outcomes

• Develop knowledge in the approaches of Speculative Design, Design Futures, and other alternative designs, and understand how design’s frictional role can impact its productional role.
• Integrate Speculative Design and Design Futures to create physical computing artifacts that interrogate socio-technical challenges.
• Critically examine emerging technologies and their cultural, societal, and ethical implications through discussion, case studies, and design critiques.
• Develop high-quality, experience-driven prototypes that demonstrate technical fluency in emerging technologies and integrate them seamlessly into the designs.
• Communicate their experimental designs effectively, using scholarly formats.

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