“Design Thinking and Design Literacy Perspectives in the 21st Century” International Symposium

The international symposium titled “Design Thinking and Design Literacy Perspectives in the 21st Century,” organized by Özyeğin University Faculty of Architecture and Design, will be held on Thursday, June 6th, between 09:30 to 17:30 in the G25 conference hall of the AB4 Faculty building. The symposium is part of Özyeğin University’s 15th-anniversary events and is supported by the TÜBİTAK 1001 – Scientific and Technological Research Projects Support Program. It is organized as part of the research project titled “Development of Design Literacy Skills: A Course Design, Implementation, and Evaluation for the First Year Students of Higher Education Undergraduate Programs” (123K613), led by Dr. Derya Yorgancıoğlu. The project involves Associate Prof. Dr. Esin Kömez Dağlıoğlu and Associate Prof. Dr. Yeşim Çapa Aydın from Middle East Technical University as researchers.

The symposium will feature Associate Prof. Erik Bohemia, one of the founding presidents of the Design Literacy International Network, as the keynote speaker. Other speakers include Prof. Dr. Alpay Er, Head of the Industrial Design Department at Özyeğin University; Prof. Dr. Mine Özkar, Faculty Member of ITU Architecture Department and Head of LEE Informatics Department; Associate Prof. Dr. Aykut Coşkun, Director of Koç University Arçelik Research Center for Creative Industries (KUAR); Associate Prof. Dr. Pınar Kaygan, Faculty Member of the Institute of Contemporary Art, Design and Architecture at the Art Academy of Latvia; Assistant Prof. Dr. Sine Çelik from Delft University of Technology; and Dr. Onur Yüce Gün, Director of Computational Design at New Balance. The symposium will include presentations focusing on conceptual/theoretical discussions related to the design thinking approach, research centers focusing on this approach, and the integration of design thinking into education. The event will end with a forum.