Design Education Talks ep. 62 – Bradford Hansen-Smith

The Education of Attention: Esen Karol on Design, Publishing and Joy Teaching Designers to See: A Conversation with Esen Karol Design Education Talks

In this episode of Design Education Talks, I am joined by graphic designer, publisher, editor and educator Esen Karol for a thoughtful conversation about what it means to educate designers in an age of distraction, artificial intelligence and accelerating change. Drawing on her experience at Pratt Institute in New York and through her independent cultural criticism journal Manifold, Esen reflects on the changing role of the design educator, the importance of editorial thinking, and why the future of design education depends on cultivating attention, curiosity and meaningful human relationships rather than simply teaching software or preparing students for employment.Together we explore the value of studio culture, deep reading, writing, publishing and critique as essential components of creative education. Esen argues that students need more than technical skills or polished portfolios; they need opportunities to experience the world directly, develop confidence in their own actions, and discover their unique voice through making, reflection and dialogue. The conversation examines how joy, discipline and slow observation can become powerful teaching methods, and why publishing remains one of the richest educational frameworks for developing critical thinking, collaboration and cultural awareness.More than a discussion about graphic design, this episode is an exploration of the future of art and design education itself. We consider how schools can resist standardisation, rebuild communities of learning, and create spaces where students learn not only to communicate, but to perceive, question and think independently. It is a conversation for educators, designers, students, researchers and anyone interested in how creativity is formed, how culture is transmitted, and why the most important work of education may still be helping people learn how to see.Since its inception in 2019, Design Education Talks podcast has served as a dynamic platform for the exchange of insights and ideas within the realm of art and design education. This initiative sprang from a culmination of nearly a decade of extensive research conducted by Lefteris Heretakis. His rich background, intertwining academia, industry, and student engagement, laid the foundation for a podcast that goes beyond the conventional boundaries of educational discourse.See all of our work on on https://linktr.ee/thenewartschoolFollow us on twitter at @newartschoolRead our latest articles at https://newartschool.education/and https://heretakis.medium.com/Equipment used to produce the podcast:Rodcaster pro IIRode NT1 5th generationElgato Low profile Microphone ArmMonster Prolink Studio Pro microphone cableThe rest of the equipment is here 👉https://kit.co/heretakis/podcasting
  1. The Education of Attention: Esen Karol on Design, Publishing and Joy Teaching Designers to See: A Conversation with Esen Karol
  2. Simon Collins – What Design Schools Get Wrong About the Real World
  3. Graham Fink – Why Process Matters More Than Finish in Creative Work
  4. Dan Vlahos – Dynamic Media, Critical Thinking, and Design Pedagogy
  5. Jan Kubasiewicz on Teaching Design as a System of Meaning

NEW YEARS SPECIAL PODCAST WORKSHOP!!!

Bradford Hansen-Smith spent the first half of his life as a sculptor; then it changed. Inspired by the work of Buckminster Fuller he took ten years to educate himself in geometry and math seeing that it all goes back to the image we draw of the circle. The next thirty-two years he has been exploring folding circles with people interested. Without any degree, and no certification, he taught folding circles in and out of classrooms, from first grade through college level, working with teachers, presenting internationally a new approach to geometry and mathematics, a new way to do and think about what we do. During that time, he has written seven books and has published papers on folding circles.

He calls this approach Wholemovement, folding the circle for information. It is comprehensive through the hand-on experience of folding the circle as unity and observing what is revealed. This is about the transforming changes of order and organization all in one place; nothing is added or taken away. Information is not constructed or put into the circle. Through a principled sequence of folding, observing, and reforming, the directives for the process are inherent to unity in the circle, it is whole. Folding the circle demonstrates spherical unity beyond all other shapes and forms. It is about learning to see what is not seen, attending to what we do, and to use what is revealed to discover what we do not know. This provides any folder with experience to know circles are not what we are told they are, they are so much more: as it is with most information we are given.
 
His work can be found at; 
https://www.wholemovement.com/
https:// http://www.facebook.com/wholemovementSupport the show

Follow us on twitter at @newartschool
Visits us on https://linktr.ee/thenewartschool
Read our latest articles at https://heretakis.wordpress.com/
and https://heretakis.medium.com/

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