OCAD U's Faculty of Design Speaker Series

Thursday, December 15, 2011 - 5:00am

Judith Heumann:
"Changing Society: The Power of Inclusive Thinking"
Thursday, January 19, 6:30 p.m.

(Toronto—December 15, 2011) OCAD University is pleased to welcome Judith Heumann, Special Advisor for International Disability Rights at the U.S. Department of State, who will give her free public talk "Changing Society: The Power of Inclusive Thinking" as part of the Faculty of Design speaker series.

Judith Heumann is an internationally recognized leader in the disability community and a lifelong civil rights advocate for disadvantaged people. She has been appointed Special Advisor for International Disability Rights at the U.S. Department of State. She previously served as the Director for the Department on Disability Services for the District of Columbia, where she was responsible for the Developmental Disability Administration and the Rehabilitation Services Administration.

From June 2002-2006, Heumann served as the World Bank's first Adviser on Disability and Development. In this position, Heumann led the World Bank's disability work to expand the Bank's knowledge and capability to work with governments and civil society on including disability in the Bank discussions with client countries; its country-based analytical work; and support for improving policies, programs, and projects that allow disabled people around the world to live and work in the economic and social mainstream of their communities. She was Lead Consultant to the Global Partnership for Disability and Development.

From 1993 to 2001, Heumann served in the Clinton Administration as the Assistant Secretary for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services in the Department of Education. Heumann was responsible for the implementation of legislation at the national level for programs in special education, disability research, vocational rehabilitation and independent living, serving more than 8 million youth and adults with disabilities.

For more than 30 years, Heumann has been involved on the international front working with disabled people's organizations and governments around the world to advance the human rights of disabled people. She represented Education Secretary, Richard Riley, at the 1995 International Congress on Disability in Mexico City. She was a US delegate to the Fourth United Nations World Conference on Women in Beijing, China. She has been active with Disabled Peoples' International, Rehabilitation International and numerous Independent Living Centers throughout the world. She co-founded the Center for Independent Living in Berkeley California and the World Institute on Disability in Oakland California.

Heumann graduated from Long Island University in 1969 and received her Masters in Public Health from the University of California at Berkeley in 1975. She has received numerous awards including being the first recipient of the Henry B. Betts Award in recognition of efforts to significantly improve the quality of life for people with disabilities. She has received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Long Island University in Brooklyn, an Honorary Doctorate of Public Administration from the University of Illinois, Champaign, and an Honorary Doctorate of Public Service from the University of Toledo.

The Faculty of Design Speaker Series is generously supported by TD Bank Group.

Heumann's talk is presented in conjunction with OCAD University's annual Design Competition. All are welcome to attend. Please register for tickets (free).

OCAD University - 135 Years of Imagination
Auditorium, 100 McCaul Street, Toronto
416-977-6000  |  http://www.ocadu.ca/

OCAD University (OCAD U): 135 Years of Imagination
OCAD University (www.ocadu.ca) is Canada’s “University of the Imagination.” The University, founded in 1876, is dedicated to art and design education, practice and research and to knowledge and invention across a wide range of disciplines. OCAD University is building on its traditional, studio-based strengths, adding new approaches to learning that champion cross-disciplinary practice, collaboration and the integration of emerging technologies. In the Age of Imagination, OCAD University community members will be uniquely qualified to act as catalysts for the next advances in culture, technology and quality of life for all Canadians.

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For more information contact:

Sarah Mulholland, Media & Communications Officer
416-977-6000 Ext. 327 (mobile Ext. 1327)

International thought leaders on digital inclusion to converge at OCAD University

Thursday, May 10, 2012 - 4:00am

Designing Enabling Economies and Policies conference to feature talks by Don Tapscott and Kristyn Wong-Tam

(Toronto—May 10, 2012) OCAD University will host Designing Enabling Economies and Policies (DEEP), May 24 to 25, a program of the Global Initiative for Inclusive Information and Communication Technologies (G3ict).

The conference brings together the world's most influential digital inclusion thinkers, information and communications technology designers, persons with disabilities advocates and policy makers to identify levers and innovative new strategies for digital inclusion that go beyond current approaches. G3ict is an Advocacy Initiative of the UN GAID, the United Nations Global Alliance for ICT and Development.

Don Tapscott, one of the world's leading authorities on innovation, media and the economic and social impact of technology, is a key speaker at DEEP. Also among the line up is diversity activist and Toronto City Councillor for Toronto Centre-Rosedale, Kristyn Wong-Tam.

In addition, The Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, the Honourable David C. Onley will host participants for a reception in his suite at Queen's Park.

Designed to foster substantive, in-depth discussion among decision makers promoting the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in their respective countries, DEEP will analyze success factors and causes of failures of e-accessibility policies and programs. Areas of focus will include:

  • Accessible Education
  • Workplace Accommodation
  • Broadcasting and New Media
  • Telecommunications
  • Contents and Services

"Accessibility and inclusion are not only rights to be protected, but catalysts for new ideas," said conference co-convenor Jutta Treviranus, Director of OCAD University's Inclusive Design Research Centre, and of the Inclusive Design Institute. "DEEP is an opportunity for policy makers, advocates, service providers and academia to exchange ideas for digital inclusion for persons with disabilities. Digital inclusion leads to better design and robust business strategies, which in turn become economic drivers with ubiquitous social benefits."

"The DEEP conference will definitely help advance the understanding of success factors and roadblocks involved in implementing digital accessibility," said Axel Leblois, Executive Director, G3ict. "We are particularly pleased that leading disability advocates and private sector participants will be involved in brainstorming sessions alongside government representatives.  DEEP 2012 will also be a unique opportunity for international participants to learn more about the pioneering Canadian and Ontario experiences. We are very grateful to OCAD University, the Government of Canada and the Province of Ontario to make this international multi-stakeholder inquiry possible."

Plenary sessions will explore levers for change such as technological solutions; economic levers, demographics and market forces; the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and policy; education and training on accessibility and societal trends.

For the complete agenda, visit the Designing Enabling Economies and Policies conference website at deep2012.idrc.ocad.ca.

Held in conjunction with the DEEP conference, OCAD U will celebrate the official opening of the Inclusive Design Institute (IDI), a research community and regional research hub based at OCAD University that focuses on the inclusive design of emerging information and communication systems and practices. The IDI is funded by the Government of Canada through the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the Ontario Research Fund Research Infrastructure program with eight postsecondary institutions as core partners, namely OCAD U, University of Toronto, Ryerson University, York University, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Sheridan College, George Brown College and Seneca College.

OCAD University and G3ict acknowledge the generous support of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Ontario Public Service, Research in Motion Limited, Accessible Media Inc. and IBM Canada. 

BACKGROUND:

Don Tapscott
Don Tapscott has written or co-written 14 widely read books including most recently Macrowikinomics: New Solutions for a Connected Planet (Revised Paperback, May 2012). His 1992 bestseller Paradigm Shift helped coin a seminal management concept and his 1995 hit The Digital Economy changed thinking around the world about the transformational nature of the Internet. Two years later he defined the Net Generation and the "digital divide" in Growing Up Digital. His 2000 work, Digital Capital, introduced seminal ideas like "the business web" and was described by BusinessWeek as "pure enlightenment." Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything was the best-selling management book in the United States in 2007 and translated into over 25 languages.

The Economist called Macrowikinomics a "Schumpeterian story of creative destruction" and the Huffington Post said the book is "nothing less than a game plan to fix a broken world." Over 30 years he has introduced many ground-breaking concepts that are part of contemporary understanding.

In 2011, Tapscott was re-named to the Thinkers50 Definitive List of the Top 50 Business Thinkers in the World, earning the ninth spot on the list. He was also a runner up as the World's Leading Thinker on Globalization and Macrowikinomics was runner up for The Best Business Book of the Last Two Years. He is a member of World Economic Forum, and an Adjunct Professor of Management for the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. It is hard to imagine anyone who has been more prolific, profound and influential in explaining the digital revolution and its impact on the world.

Kristyn Wong-Tam
Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam has an extensive career investing in the City of Toronto through both the public and private sectors. Her contributions have led to the development and support of numerous social planning programs, business ventures, art endeavours and successful community initiatives.

As a tireless community advocate, Councillor Wong-Tam has championed for the expansion of green public spaces, farmers' markets, community gardens including improvements to parks and ravines. She has lead efforts to defend the rights of tenants to obtain affordable and decent standards of rental housing and helped create a neighbourhood association to preserve and protect heritage buildings and historical landscapes in the ward.

Councillor Wong-Tam has a distinguished track record of human rights advocacy and was a co-founder of Asian Canadians For Equal Marriage, and the past president of the Chinese Canadian National Council Toronto Chapter that successfully lobbied the federal government for the head tax apology and redress.

Prior to being elected to City Council in 2010, Councillor Wong-Tam was an accomplished real estate professional and supporter of the arts. She has curated art installations for Scotiabank's Nuit Blanche and is the principal of a Toronto-based contemporary fine art gallery. As a founding member of the Church-Wellesley Village Business Improvement Association, her business advocacy and entrepreneurship focusing on urban economic development, earned her a seat on the Mayor David Miller's Economic Competitiveness Advisory Committee which produced the Agenda for Prosperity in 2008.

Councillor Wong-Tam continues to be a champion for sustainable living and environmental health and plays a vital role in ensuring the vibrancy of our city and its economic and social development. In addition to her city appointments to numerous city boards and agencies, she is also a board member of the University of Toronto Art Centre and the Business Chair at the Toronto Workforce Innovation Group (previously known as the Toronto Training Board).

Global Initiative for Inclusive Information and Communication Technologies (G3ict)
G3ict (http://www.g3ict.org/) is an Advocacy Initiative of the UN GAID, the United Nations Global Alliance for ICT and Development, launched in December 2006 in cooperation with the Secretariat for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities at UN DESA.  Its mission is to facilitate and support the implementation of the dispositions of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on the accessibility of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) and assistive technologies. G3ict relies on an international network of ICT accessibility experts to develop and promote good practices, technical resources and benchmarks for ICT accessibility advocates around the world.

About OCAD University (OCAD U)
OCAD University (www.ocadu.ca) is Canada's "university of imagination." The University, founded in 1876, is dedicated to art and design education, practice and research and to knowledge and invention across a wide range of disciplines. OCAD University is building on its traditional, studio-based strengths, adding new approaches to learning that champion cross-disciplinary practice, collaboration and the integration of emerging technologies. In the Age of Imagination, OCAD University community members will be uniquely qualified to act as catalysts for the next advances in culture, technology and quality of life for all Canadians.

- 30 -

Download this release as a PDF document.

Media are invited to attend. To RSVP or for more information, please contact:

Sarah Mulholland, Media & Communications Officer
416-977-6000 Ext. 327 (mobile Ext. 1327)

OCAD University opens Inclusive Design Institute

Thursday, May 24, 2012 - 4:00am

(Toronto—May 24, 2012) OCAD University celebrates the official opening of the Inclusive Design Institute (IDI) today.

The Inclusive Design Institute is a leading applied research centre established to ensure that everyone can participate in our digitally transformed society. With eight postsecondary partner institutions and more than 100 multi-sector collaborators, this regional centre of expertise will prepare Ontario to respond to the increased demand worldwide for inclusive digital systems and practices, a demand that is intensified by an aging population and the adoption of accessibility legislation by all major trading partners.

Many essential activities today require going online whether it is finding a job, applying for government services, participating in education or communicating with friends. Many people face barriers to online access because systems are generally designed for the typical user. The number of people facing barriers due to a disability is increasing as our population ages. The IDI will ensure that the online systems and services we depend upon are designed to work for everyone.

Supported by both the Government of Canada through the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the Ontario Ministry for Economic Development and Innovation, the IDI will help train highly qualified personnel to fuel ongoing innovation in inclusive design and enable Ontario to take a leadership role globally.

"The Inclusive Design Institute is destined to be a world-class facility that will make technology accessible to everyone, everywhere," said Gilles G. Patry, President and CEO of the Canada Foundation for Innovation. "With its core of accomplished researchers, this vibrant hub of innovation and training will create opportunities for working with industry to improve their products and processes."

"The McGuinty government has made real progress in ensuring the province maintains the highest standards of accessibility, and our investment in the Inclusive Design Institute is an important step towards making the province fully accessible," said Minister of Economic Development and Innovation Brad Duguid. "The work of this Institute will lead to greater inclusion in the digital world, and that means a higher standard of life, education and employment for all Ontarians."

"We're very proud to officially launch the Inclusive Design Institute, where we bring together a community that values collaboration, broad participation, transparency and openness," said OCAD University's Jutta Treviranus, Director of the IDI and the Institute's principal researcher. "Inclusion and diversity are Ontario's richest untapped resources. Research at the IDI will help Ontario sustain and develop this resource and foster the inherent potential to create a vibrant, productive generator of innovative, inclusively designed information and communication systems and services."

Inclusion and diversity are not only values or rights to be protected, but also catalysts for new ideas, design principles that lead to better design, business strategies that make good business sense and potential economic drivers with ubiquitous social benefits.

The Institute's work is focused into four research clusters:

  • Design and Development: creating tools, strategies, resources and exemplars that proactively address the early stages of application development;
  • Business Case, Policies, Standards & Legislation: exploring the role of policies, standards, and legislation in promoting digital inclusion and examining the economic impact of inclusive design and new emerging markets addressing digital inclusion;
  • Mobile & Pervasive Computing: focusing on the potential of mobile, context-aware and location-aware technologies, pervasive computing and ambient intelligence; and
  • Information & Implementation Practices: examining the role of information and communications technology and inclusive design in four sectoral domains: education, health, culture and civic engagement.

The Institute's eight postsecondary partners are OCAD University, University of Toronto, Ryerson University, York University, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Sheridan College, George Brown College and Seneca College.

Some of the multi-sector, international projects using the IDI facilities include:

  • Fluid, an open-source software community that designs user interfaces, builds Web tools, teaches inclusive design and integrates interface components into open source applications;
  • FLOE, flexible learning for open education;
  • AEGIS, which works towards integrating accessibility into emerging information and communication technology;
  • Cloud4All, which aims to develop a complete new paradigm in accessibility by replacing adaptation of individual products and services for a person with automatic-personalization of any mainstream product or service using cloud technologies;
  • IDRC Mobile research consists of open-ended research and development on accessible, usable, intelligent, context- and location-aware mobile technologies; and
  • Global Public Inclusive Infrastructure (GPII), a software and service enhancement to ensure broadband infrastructure is barrier free.

In addition to many cloud-delivered accessible research applications and collaboration tools, the IDI infrastructure includes several central research labs, including the:

  • Distributed Collaboration Network;
  • Participatory Inclusive Design Lab;
  • Cross-platform testing facility;
  • Mobile and Pervasive Computing research platform;
  • Accessible Gaming Platform;
  • Sensory Mode Translation and Media Access Facility;
  • Accessible Performance Lab; and the
  • Experimental Inclusive Meeting Facility.

The IDI's laboratories and collaboration spaces are located in three main areas on the OCAD University campus, with additional laboratories located at IDI partner facilities. At OCAD U, the IDI spans the Distributed Collaboration Network and Cross Platform Testing Facility at 205 Richmond Street West, the Experimental Inclusive Meeting Facility and Sensory Mode Translation and Media Access Facility (including captioning and description) at 230 Richmond Street West and the Participatory Inclusive Design Lab and Accessible Performance Lab at 49 McCaul Street.

20120524_IDI_opening_releaseAbout OCAD University (OCAD U)
OCAD University (www.ocadu.ca) is Canada's "university of imagination." The University, founded in 1876, is dedicated to art and design education, practice and research and to knowledge and invention across a wide range of disciplines. OCAD University is building on its traditional, studio-based strengths, adding new approaches to learning that champion cross-disciplinary practice, collaboration and the integration of emerging technologies. In the Age of Imagination, OCAD University community members will be uniquely qualified to act as catalysts for the next advances in culture, technology and quality of life for all Canadians.

- 30 -

Download this release as a PDF document.

Media are invited to attend. To RSVP or for more information, please contact:

Sarah Mulholland, Media & Communications Officer
416-977-6000 Ext. 327 (mobile Ext. 1327)

All Inclusive

All Inclusive
Friday, July 26, 2013 - 8:00pm

An exhibit of work from students in the summer 2013 Inclusive Art, Design and Communication course

Graduate students in OCAD University’s Inclusive Design Program are presenting new artworks that explore the possibilities and challenges of translation, accessibility or inclusivity in art making and art presentations.

The public is invited to view the work on Friday, July 26, 4-6 p.m. in the Open Gallery, 49 McCall Street, Toronto.

The exploration of inclusion in art practice is part of the two-year Master of Design (MDes) in Inclusive Design. This program offers graduate students a unique opportunity to become global leaders in the emerging field of inclusive design in information and communication technologies (ICT) and practices. Inclusive Design encompasses the full range of human diversity including ability, language, culture, gender and age. Led by an accomplished and diverse faculty, our students are urged to think differently in order to break through existing societal barriers to address the growing global demand for inclusively designed digital technologies, products and services.

Participating students include:

Dina Anker
Noelle Campbell-Smith
Karman Chan
Qi Chen
Sarah Crosskey
Andrei Dacko
Jan Derbyshire
Angela Dosis
Sara Durning
Feriyal Hallajarani
Lawrence Kwok
Brandon Laird
Lester Leung
Ambrose Li
Maz Mohad
Vanessa Pfaff
Angela Punshon
Paul Shecter
Mariel Vandeloo

Twitter #allinclusiveshow

 

Free

 

Venue & Address: 
Open Gallery 49 McCaul St. Toronto, Ontario

Common Pulse: Symposium

 Common Pulse: Symposium
Friday, September 27, 2013 - 1:00pm

Collaboration and Inclusion

Jutta Treviranus
Deb Fels
Janis Timm-Bottos
Judith Snow
Discussion

Artists and Researchers Discuss Art and Disability

The coupling of disability art with emerging research practices allows for a comparison of the values of embodied experience in academic and studio-based activities and a new formulation of their intersection.
The hybrid work being done by practitioners, both artists and researchers, describes a further shift away from the centre towards inclusive and experiential processes and results. Methodologies are likewise being expanded that transform the functions of research in ways that makes it more responsive to the complexities of the subject. This fusion of research and creation is evident in the work being done in the fields of art production, Disability Studies and Disability Art and Culture by all of the participants invited to the symposium. Their contributions to the dialogue will address the applicability of a research/creation model in the ongoing effort to bring more light and understanding to our evolving conception of disability and the contributions that disability culture brings to society generally.

Jutta Treviranus, Inclusive Design, OCAD University

Outside-In

Our economic, social and physical survival depends on diversity. Inequity and disparity of opportunity erodes our social cohesion, health and wealth. However, we rarely design our systems and practices for diversity and inclusion. The margins encompass us all. Our design should begin at the margins for a healthier, wealthier and wiser society. This session will explore current disruptions brought about by global networks, pull markets, mass customization systems, cloud services and pervasive technologies that provide opportunities to support greater diversity and inclusion.

Deborah Fels, Ryerson University

Vibrotactility as a Viable Method for Creating More Inclusive Music

In this presentation creating vibrotactile music will be discussed as a theoretical and practical method of inclusive entertainment, particularly for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. A set of tactile instruments, Vibromotion and Vibrochord, as well as a vibrotactile display, the Emoti-Chair, will be presented and demonstrated. Vibrotactility is not only a new accessible art form but it is also allowing new media artists to explore a completely new genre.

Janis Timm-Bottos, Creative Arts Therapies, Concordia University

When Being the Audience is Not Enough: Becoming the "Loving Third"

This presentation will address how a storefront classroom/studio brings together diverse individuals who serve as social supports for each other in order to create meaningful community life. Kristeva's notion of "the loving third" or "the loving support of the social" (in Oliver, 2002) helps us to think about how a sense of belonging through the arts can counteract alienation that has been imposed by values of the dominant culture. Watkins and Shulman's (2008) "liberation arts" demonstrate how individual and groups limit situations that can be re-imagined through sustained studio relationships, fostering a greater sense of wellbeing, as well as positively influencing an entire community's sense of hope. Folk art methods of interaction, such as: "the third hand," "each one, teach one," non-juried community art exhibits and métissage practices will be shared as they are currently being researched at La Ruche d'Art: Community Studio and Science Shop in Montreal, affectionately known as the "art hive."

Judith Snow, Laser Eagles Art Guild, Founder

Inclusion as Valuing Diversity

Inclusion is typically defined as the opposite of exclusion, but this does not capture the richness of the struggle for diverse abilities, cultures and ways of being to find a place in a society where "normal" is fundamental to the design of everything. Art that is created through facilitation challenges what and how we determine value. It provides a context for examining and building partnership and collaboration. Inclusive, collaborative art making stands as a beacon to highlight human capacity against the hegemony of an increasingly robotic, materialist monoculture. This presentation will explain and show examples of making art through cooperation. I will place this process in a cultural context and provide participants with a sense of how working with diverse personal gifts can enrich society for everyone.

 

647-330-2989

 

www.commonpulse.ca/symposium.php

geoffrey@commonpulse.ca

Venue & Address: 
Durham Town Hall 185 George Street West Durham, Ontario

Common Pulse: Symposium

Common Pulse: Symposium
Friday, September 27, 2013 - 5:30pm

Creation and Research

Emily Cook
Grahame Lynch
Nancy D-Halifax
Kim Jackson
Discussionn

Artists and Researchers Discuss Art and Disability

The coupling of disability art with emerging research practices allows for a comparison of the values of embodied experience in academic and studio-based activities and a new formulation of their intersection.
The hybrid work being done by practitioners, both artists and researchers, describes a further shift away from the centre towards inclusive and experiential processes and results. Methodologies are likewise being expanded that transform the functions of research in ways that makes it more responsive to the complexities of the subject. This fusion of research and creation is evident in the work being done in the fields of art production, Disability Studies and Disability Art and Culture by all of the participants invited to the symposium. Their contributions to the dialogue will address the applicability of a research/creation model in the ongoing effort to bring more light and understanding to our evolving conception of disability and the contributions that disability culture brings to society generally.

Emily Cook, OCAD University
Emily Cook holds a MFA in Printmaking from

Louisiana State University (2008) which she undertook after completing her BFA at OCADU in 2005. Over the past ten years, her work has been included in over 30 group exhibitions in the United States and Canada. Her most recent solo exhibition, Dextrocardia, was presented at Lennox Contemporary in Toronto (2012). Since 2008, Cook has held the position of Sessional Instructor in papermaking and printmaking at OCADU. Her accomplishments have been recognized by nine different awards and scholarships, and her work can be found in both private and public collections, including the Toronto Reference Library Rare Books Collection.

Grahame Lynch, Ryerson University

Experiencing Art: Enhancing Experience for Extended Audiences with Transmedia Communication

For those members of the public whose capacity for direct experience of artwork is limited for reasons of ability or location, the means of exposure to cultural productions is often based in descriptive practice. This research project proposes a communication strategy aimed at enhancing public engagement and connecting audiences through nuanced multi-modal experiences. This transmedia model does not attempt to recreate the direct experience of an artwork; rather it encourages the development and sharing of new and highly individualized experiences that are accessible to members of the public with a diverse range of abilities.

Nancy Davis Halifax, Graduate Program in Critical Disability Studies, York University

Disability as Difficult Knowledge: A
Phenomenology of Undecidability

"Disability as undecidability is deeply unsettling to the cultural imaginary, particularly one that incorporates an image of the embodied self as whole, separate and invulnerable." - Shildrick, 763
The artist's embodiment of disability as "undecidability" unsettles and leaks through a cultural imaginary that requests a whole, separate and invulnerable embodiment. How does uncertain or undecidable embodiment effect artistic production? The proposed presentation addresses ordinary experiences of disability embodiment and their effects on the practices of art within community when they are made explicit.

 

647-330-2989

 

www.commonpulse.ca/symposium.php

geoffrey@commonpulse.ca

Venue & Address: 
Durham Town Hall 185 George Street West Durham, Ontario

Master of Design in Inclusive Design Info Night

Master of Design in Inclusive Design Info Night
Monday, November 4, 2013 - 11:00pm

Do you want to make a difference? OCAD U’s Master of Design in Inclusive Design may be for you.

Inclusive Design encompasses the full range of human diversity including ability, language, culture, gender and age. Learn how to address the growing demand for inclusively designed digital technologies, products, services and policies. Do it online, at your own pace; advancing your skills while maintaining your professional practice. OCAD University's Master of Design (MDes) in Inclusive Design program will take your work to the next level, making you a pioneer in this emerging field. Further career prospects include government, education, entertainment, art, culture, health, and communication design sectors.

Join the team
Join a collaborative learning community where students and faculty co-create the program curriculum and design. Use this opportunity to meet your own research interests and professional needs.

The program director and faculty members are world leaders in the field of Inclusive Design and Accessibility. They are leading our future experts, challenging them to redefine current practices, and shaping what it means to design for all.

The program is housed within the Inclusive Design Research Centre in Toronto, and there are numerous opportunities for students to get involved with current projects, global research activities, and high profile partnerships.

Diverse institutional collaborators create a rich network for professional growth. And in-demand guest speakers play a major role in program activities.

Flexible delivery
The MDes in Inclusive Design is an online-based program, also offering on-site/real-time learning experiences for those so inclined. Are you working full-time? Our flexible delivery allows you to maintain your work while gaining a professional degree at the same time.

Blended delivery format offers online and on-site experiences.
Lectures are recorded for students to listen to on their own time.
2 week summer intensives lay the foundation for the program each year. For 2 weeks every summer students network with guest speakers, formulate major research topics, and forge collaborative working groups for the years ahead.
Major Research Project can build upon professional work.
We are currently accepting applications for 2014. The application deadline for the summer 2014 start date is January 13, 2014.

Learn more about our innovative program and how to apply by coming to one of our upcoming information nights on November 4th, 2013 or November 27th, 2013. Meet with the program director, faculty, current students and alumni. Remote connection is available if you are unable to attend in person.

 

idrc.ocad.ca/index.php/workshops-aamp-trainings/masters-program

 

aodowd@ocadu.ca

 

Free

Venue & Address: 
Inclusive Design Research Centre, 2nd Floor 205 Richmond St. W. Toronto, Ontario

*Grad Studies Info Night @ 205 Richmond

Grad Studies Info Night @ 205 Richmond
Wednesday, November 27, 2013 - 11:00pm

Grad Info Nights: Nov 4th ,5th, 27th, 28th 6pm - 8pm

Programs: Art, Design & New Media Histories / Inclusive Design / Strategic Foresight and Innovation

November 27:
- Contemporary Art, Design and New Media Histories (MA)
- Inclusive Design (MDes)
Strategic Foresight and Innovation (MDes)

Are you willing to embrace a creative future? Then you're ready to consider Graduate Studies at OCAD University — the university of the imagination, in the heart of Canada’s most culturally vibrant city.
We give ideas a place and a space. Our ability to offer graduate students a unique experience is solidly rooted in our 137-year history of delivering uncompromising art and design education. Grounded in practice, theory, research and professionalism, with an eye on experimentation and change, we deliver advanced experiential learning. Our graduate students enjoy unrivalled opportunities to practice with expert faculty, in studios, labs and through exceptional internships.

At OCAD U, we attract curious and creative students who expect something more from their education and are willing to challenge themselves to achieve it. Are you ready to explore, enrich and expand your horizons?
Join us at our Information Nights to learn more about Graduate Studies at OCAD U!

WATCH (video):

Contemporary Art, Design and New Media Histories (MA):

Inclusive Design (MDes):

More OCAD University Graduate Studies Info Nights:

Contemporary Art, Design and New Media Histories (MA)
Tuesday, November 5, 6 to 8 p.m.
Wednesday, November 27,6 to 8 p.m.

Criticism & Curatorial Practice (MFA)
Monday, November 4, 6 to 8 p.m.
Thursday, November 28, 6 to 8 p.m.

Digital Futures (MDes, MFA, MA and Graduate Diploma)
Tuesday, November 5,6 to 8 p.m.
Thursday, November 28, 6 to 8 p.m.

Inclusive Design (MDes)
Monday, November 4, 6 to 8 p.m.
Wednesday, November 27, 6 to 8 p.m.

Interdisciplinary Master's in Art, Media and Design (MDes, MFA, MA)
Tuesday, November 5, 6 to 8 p.m.
Thursday, November 28, 6 to 8 p.m.

Strategic Foresight and Innovation (MDes)
Monday, November 4, 6 to 8 p.m.
Wednesday, November 27, 6 to 8 p.m.

All Graduate Studies Information Nights are held at OCAD University, 205 Richmond Street West.

If you are unable to attend the information sessions in person, please email us with any questions about our graduate programs gradstudies@ocadu.ca

Twitter Ask Me Anything:
December 4, 2013 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. sessions
Follow @OCADUgrad

* The Application Deadline for all programs is Monday, January 13, 2014 *

Graduate Studies at OCAD University
205 Richmond Street West
Toronto, Ontario
http://www.ocadu.ca/programs/graduate_studies.htm

For more information, contact:
Office of Graduate Studies
416-977-6000 Ext. 423 or gradstudies@ocadu.ca

www.ocadu.ca/graduate-studies.htm

 

Free

Venue & Address: 
5th Floor 205 Richmond St. Toronto, Ontario

Master of Design in Inclusive Design Info Night

Master of Design in Inclusive Design Info Night
Wednesday, November 27, 2013 - 11:00pm

Do you want to make a difference? OCAD U’s Master of Design in Inclusive Design may be for you.

Inclusive Design encompasses the full range of human diversity including ability, language, culture, gender and age. Learn how to address the growing demand for inclusively designed digital technologies, products, services and policies. Do it online, at your own pace; advancing your skills while maintaining your professional practice. OCAD University's Master of Design (MDes) in Inclusive Design program will take your work to the next level, making you a pioneer in this emerging field. Further career prospects include government, education, entertainment, art, culture, health, and communication design sectors.

Join the team
Join a collaborative learning community where students and faculty co-create the program curriculum and design. Use this opportunity to meet your own research interests and professional needs.

The program director and faculty members are world leaders in the field of Inclusive Design and Accessibility. They are leading our future experts, challenging them to redefine current practices, and shaping what it means to design for all.

The program is housed within the Inclusive Design Research Centre in Toronto, and there are numerous opportunities for students to get involved with current projects, global research activities, and high profile partnerships.

Diverse institutional collaborators create a rich network for professional growth. And in-demand guest speakers play a major role in program activities.

Flexible delivery
The MDes in Inclusive Design is an online-based program, also offering on-site/real-time learning experiences for those so inclined. Are you working full-time? Our flexible delivery allows you to maintain your work while gaining a professional degree at the same time.

Blended delivery format offers online and on-site experiences.
Lectures are recorded for students to listen to on their own time.
2 week summer intensives lay the foundation for the program each year. For 2 weeks every summer students network with guest speakers, formulate major research topics, and forge collaborative working groups for the years ahead.
Major Research Project can build upon professional work.
We are currently accepting applications for 2014. The application deadline for the summer 2014 start date is January 13, 2014.

Learn more about our innovative program and how to apply by coming to one of our upcoming information nights on November 4th, 2013 or November 27th, 2013. Meet with the program director, faculty, current students and alumni. Remote connection is available if you are unable to attend in person.

 

idrc.ocad.ca/index.php/workshops-aamp-trainings/masters-program

 

aodowd@ocadu.ca

 

Free

Venue & Address: 
Inclusive Design Research Centre, 2nd Floor 205 Richmond St. W. Toronto, Ontario

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