Digital Commons Network^™

Beyond Binaries Of Reconciliation: Working Across Knowledge Systems At The Cultural Interface, Georgina Nolan, Nicola St John

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Designing and researching across multiple knowledge systems requires vigilant negotiation, reflexivity and care. These dynamics are heightened on the lands now called Australia, where settler-colonial researchers (such as the authors) engage with diverse Indigenous knowledge systems. We examine how our own ways of being and knowing come into relation with others, surfacing tensions that shape the role of pluriversal design within our situated practices. We critique reconciliation narratives that risk reaffirming colonial hierarchies by positioning reconciliation as a destination, or a reconciling between binaries of Indigenous and non-Indigenous knowledges. We argue, instead, for embracing generative tensions as openings for dialogue. …

Translating Nature's Emotions: Building An Affective Design Framework Rooted In Classical Chinese Poetry, Yi Li, Shuzhan Ji, Yifan Chen, Wanhao Luo, Yuyan Ma, Yu Gao, Xinming Zhou

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Current human-computer interaction and more-than-human design increasingly emphasize affective experiences emerging from the dynamic interplay between humans and their environments. However, research in this domain remains largely anthropocentric, often translating non-human emotions in anthropomorphic terms and thereby neglecting their distinctive affective expressions and relational nuances. This paper draws on classical Chinese poetry, renowned for its profound sensory and affective engagement with nature, to analyze how nonhuman entities convey complex emotions such as tranquility, melancholy, and transience. Using grounded theory, we systematically code and categorize the representations of Shui (水, Water), flora, and fauna in poetic excerpts that convey specific affective …

More Than Concrete: The Tacit Knowledge Of Construction Workers Through Material Cognition And Embodied Experiences, Enza Migliore, Mirna Zordan, Peiyue Lin

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Concrete builds the assets and aesthetics of contemporary cities. This research suggests that concrete also shapes emotions and cognition, generating a tacit body of valuable experience. Construction workers, who engage with this material daily, embody expertise through their bodily practices. Yet their insights remain unheard and underrepresented in the design discourse. This study adopts a material engagement approach, using concrete samples as probes and conducting semi-structured on-site interviews with 14 workers in Shenzhen, China. Analysing 280 minutes of video and audio data thematically, the research reveals that workers and materials mutually shape each other. Workers develop their understanding of concrete …

Cob Club: Co-Exploratory Earth Building Experiments, Foolish In Technique And Form, Tavs Jorgensen, James Burch, Nina Shoulder, Toni Amato

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper presents the design and building of an experimental pavilion using a novel technique of extruded cob manufacture. Design Research is presented as the co-exploration of a sequence of semi-controlled variables by a shifting body of researchers, facilitators, students, and makers where authorship becomes suffused amongst these collaborators. This co-created knowledge is rightly presented as a paper co-authored by the student interns and academics involved. Phases of architectural design, material investigation, manufacture, and construction are discussed as an episodic series of inter-connected prototyping dialogues between human, machine, and material actors; and as emergent making where embodied knowledge is inherent …

Dwelling, Making, And Digital Mediation: Mani Stone Piles In Eastern Tibet, Danmeng Xu, Han Sun, Zhijun Peng, Deng Pan, Jing Su

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This study examines mani stone piles in Eastern Tibet as material forms emerging through dwelling, movement, and situated acts of making. Drawing on Tim Ingold’s dwelling perspective and long-term visual ethnography conducted between 2016 and 2025, it shows how mani piles are produced through the embodied selection, carrying, and stacking of stones at passes, riverbanks, and crossroads. Rather than treating these piles primarily as fixed religious symbols or products of prior design intention, we argue that their forms arise from the practical coordination of bodily skill, available materials, topography, ritual habit, and movement through the landscape. It further shows that …

Belonging Across Borders: A Framework For Transnationally Resonant Retail Design, Zakkiya Khan

DRS Biennial Conference Series

As global cities become increasingly transnational, retail environments have become key sites where mobile publics negotiate belonging through spatial and commercial experience. While transnational consumers are widely theorised, the spatial implications of their participation in global retail remain underexplored. This conceptual paper draws from transnational and diaspora studies to argue that retail design operates as a transcultural interface where familiarity and difference coexist, shaping plural modes of belonging. It proposes the concept, ‘Transnationally Resonant Retail Design’, a conceptual framework outlining how affective resonance, cultural mediation, and social recognition foster civic belonging within commercial spaces. These principles are illustrated by the …

Mediating More-Than-Human Care: Art, Design And Climate Governance, Liesbeth Huybrechts, Jaz Hee-Jeong Choi, Rachel Elisabeth Clarke, Louise Mazet, Kana Ohashi

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Art is increasingly mobilised in climate governance and policy, yet often instrumentalised for predefined human agendas of data visualisation, awareness raising, and science communication. This paper explores design research’s role as a mediator of more radical art-driven participation that cultivates more-than-human care ecologies: relational configurations that redistribute sensing, accountability, and decision-making across human and other-than-human actors. Drawing on theories of care and affective politics, we examine how design research can support art-driven participation through a critical literature review. Three illustrative case studies addressing sustainable transitions on an interregional level, urban air pollution, and disaster recovery demonstrate a move from anthropocentric …

Grounding Artificial Intelligence: Terrestrial Cartography And Rare Earths In Chile, Martín Tironi, Manuela Garretón

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This article argues for planetarizing artificial intelligence (AI) by re-situating its development within the terrestrial ecologies that sustain it. While dominant imaginaries frame AI as an immaterial and global technology, its infrastructures depend on geological, energetic, and social processes rooted in specific territories. Drawing on fieldwork in Penco, southern Chile—where a rare-earth mining project has sparked a complex socio-environmental controversy—we present Bajo nuestros pies, a research-creation project that develops a terrestrial cartography of AI. We propose two core operations for grounding AI: diplomacy, understood as cultivating sensitive encounters between heterogeneous temporalities and more-than-human agencies; and relationality, which interweaves geological, industrial, …

Time Travelers: Bridging Generations In Boston’S Seaport, Robiya Sahibnazarova, Annika Kim

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This qualitative study examines social isolation among Boston's elders aged 65 and older. We explored ways to employ service design and interactive encounters to connect different generations around history. Our focus was on Boston’s Seaport—a district shaped by redevelopment and technology. This study involved four interviews with museum professionals, elders, and locals to understand how memories influence community connections. The Time Travelers app features an Interactive Memory Map of stories along with guided walks and collaborative memory threads that encourage intergenerational exchange. Complementing the app, a Seaport boardwalk installation features televisions from different decades displaying memories from each era. Visitors …

Designing With And Through Care: From Empathy To Relational Accountability, Ibtissam Jayed, Valentina Sorvillo

DRS Biennial Conference Series

In contemporary design practice, care risks becoming an imperative that obscures asymmetric power relations. This paper interrogates the relationship between design and care, asking: how can design shift from producing solutions to cultivating relations of care without reproducing paternalistic logics? Through a comparative analysis of case studies through the lenses of knowing, making, and defining with care, we treat caring about, caring for, and caring with as simultaneous and co-present dimensions to examine how care operates within design processes. The analysis identifies a structural pattern: while caring about and caring for are compatible with existing design logics, caring with encounters …

Central But Decentered: Repositioning The Practitioner In Design Research Involving Practice, Luis Vega, Julia Valle-Noronha

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Design research involving practice affords a unique mode of inquiry facilitated by acts of making, generative thinking, and iterative experimentation. The practitioner’s perspective is central because it foregrounds the significance of personal engagement with the research problem at hand. Current efforts in the field are nonetheless aiming to expand this inward-looking gaze by attending to the systemic and entangled dimensions of designing. With the increasing turn to relational, posthuman, and decolonial approaches towards that end, it becomes imperative to reconstrue what counts as ‘practice’ and reexamine whose perspectives are included in such a reconstrual. The present track brings together five …

The Transformative Nature Of Food – Adaptation, Connectivity And Identity, Dolly Daou, Claudia De Souza Libanio, Juan Montalván Lume

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This theme track examines the transformative role of food migration in shaping cultural identity, ecological systems, and practices of belonging through a food design lens. Building on The Transformative Nature of Food: Adaptation, Connectivity and Identity (Daou & Sarantou, 2026), it conceptualises food as a dynamic, designed system that evolves across geographies through processes of adaptation, connectivity and identities. As food travels, it connects people to both their original homeland and to the existing and emerging cultural identities, to develop a sense of belonging to local ecosystems. Food migration reinforces cultural continuity, political and social cohesion and belonging while influencing …

Designing More-Than-Human Climate Futures: Affect, Aesthetics And Relational Practices, Rachel E. Clarke, Michelle Westerlaken, Sara Heitlinger, Anton Poikolainen Rosén, Jaz Hee-Jeong Choi

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This track brings together papers that explore more-than-human design practices that generate alternative, plural, situated, and relational approaches to climate futures through affect, aesthetics, and care. Framing climate crisis as a polycrisis of interconnected ecological, political, cultural, and epistemic conditions, the track foregrounds how designers are working across contradictory, incommensurable, and unevenly recognised and experienced impacts of climate change. The included papers examine how more-than-human design can attend to embodied, felt, and sensed worlds of multiple species and digital-material entities, infrastructures, and their environments. Across landscapes, waterscapes, governance, microbial growth, and multiple intelligences, the contributions reveal both the possibilities and …

Regenerating The “Sustainability Project”: Transitioning Design And Sustainability Research Into The 21st Century, Michael Stead, David Sánchez Ruano

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Design has been a key protagonist in the story of the “Sustainability Project.” Yet, with capitalism, emissions, biodiversity loss and social injustice increasing, it might be argued that ‘the project,’ and design’s role in it, have failed to engender the sustainable transitions the planet and its people urgently require – and indeed deserve. This theme track aims to counter this defeatist narrative. Emphasising the ever-evolving relationship between Design and Sustainability, the track reflexively recognises that although design can often find itself a main driver of environmental unsustainability, it can similarly be harnessed as a critical conduit for positive planetary change. …

The Seaside Resorts Of Mohammedia, Ahmed Aït Moussa

BOUHOUT

This article analyzes the seaside resorts of Mohammedia and their development under the influence of Casablanca’s metropolitan proximity and the attraction of the Atlantic coastline. It examines the dual process of coastal urbanization: an early, often unplanned occupation of the littoral through cabins and leisure residences, and a later, more organized development through housing estates and higher-standard second homes. The study describes the main resort areas, including Mannesman, Pont-Blondin, Ouled Hammimoun, Monica-plage, Yassmine, and Siesta, and highlights the social profile of their users, who largely belong to affluent and educated groups from Casablanca and the surrounding region. It also discusses …

John Dewey's Pragmatism And India: Past And Futures, Scott R. Stroud

Dewey Studies

No abstract provided.

Quiet Hills, Restless Hearts: An Intersectional Exploration Of Lgbtq+ Religious Journeys In Appalachia, Allison S. Monroe, Stacey L. Williams

McNair Culminating Research Projects

Many researchers have utilized Meyer’s (2003) minority stress model to examine the social factors influencing the daily lives of LGBTQ+ individuals. Previous research has looked at negative mental health outcomes for LGBTQ+ individuals (McGraw et al., 2023), the presence of religious stress for this community (Page et al., 2013), and religious journeys of these individuals (Halkitis et al, 2009).  However, few studies have examined the intersection of religion, LGBTQ+ identity, social support, and the overarching values of Appalachian culture. The proposed study seeks to add to the literature and understand the breadth of these experiences by employing qualitative semi-structured interviews. …

Foundations' Deep, Emily Williams, Morgan Williams

University Honors Theses

Most historic buildings do not survive as they were built, yet preservation frameworks still tend to evaluate them as if they did.

Foundations' Deep begins with a structure located in Helena, Montana 59602, a building that sits uneasily within the categories it has been asked to meet. Built in the early twentieth century, it has persisted through alteration, abandonment, and use. What remains is not a stable artifact but a record of accumulated decisions, some careful and many indifferent, now embedded in the fabric of the building itself.

The thesis grows from this condition and from the limits of the …

Ambivalence, Foremourning, And Displacement In The German Translation Of Marie Bonaparte's Topsy, Kooper Wilson

University Honors Theses

This paper offers a reading of Sigmund Freud’s German translation of Marie Bonaparte’s book, Topsy: The Golden-Haired Chow, in which the author attempts to both delay the death of her dog and mourn it in advance through what I call foremourning. I argue that the manifest subject matter of Topsy should not be interpreted away as a projection of merely human concerns, but rather that close attention to Freud’s translation introduces themes from his analytic experience which engender an appreciation of Topsy’s atopia (intractability). I draw from recent psychoanalytic theory, literary criticism, and deconstruction, especially Jacques Derrida’s seminars …

“A Natural Human Activity”: The Split Attraction Model As A Tool For Reading Tolkien’S Legendarium, Sarah Courtis

Journal of Tolkien Research

The works of J.R.R. Tolkien have long been a refuge for readers seeking escape; a world of eucatastrophe where difference is celebrated, and friendship lauded. Despite his egalitarian themes, gatekeepers attempt to bar those living at the margins and intersections from reading themselves into the texts, denying that applicability which Tolkien called for in his own works. One such applicable interpretation of the legendarium is through the lens of asexuality and aromanticism. As there are no graphic sex scenes (though contrary to GRR Martin’s claims sex does exist in the world and is expanded upon in The Nature of Middle …

Chaste Bachelors And Abstaining Husbands: Celibacy And Asexuality In The Line Of Finwë, Kristine Larsen

Journal of Tolkien Research

The episodic celibacy seen among the Eldar, especially in the House of Finwë, can be read through several contexts relevant to Tolkien’s personal experience and historical period. First, bachelorhood and celibacy as social issues in Britain from the Victorian era through the interwar period provide a possible backdrop against which to analyze the House of Finwë. Second, Finwë’s line can be read through Tolkien’s own views on marriage concerning the unnaturalness of monogamy for men. Analyzing Tolkien’s legendarium through these contexts reveals a complex tension between fecundity and celibacy among male Elves, especially in the line of Finwë, including the …

Brave And Adventurous Women Travelers By Cristina Morato, Aicha Maati

SOROUD: The journal of Literacy Criticism

The Spanish writer, journalist, and traveler Cristina Morató is the first and foremost to take an interest in researching, collecting, and documenting women’s travels around the world. She has published five books in this context, all dealing with the adventures of female travelers, most of whom have been forgotten by history despite their exceptional achievements and their contribution to paving the way for a group of male travelers whose names have been written in gold. Cristina Morató insisted on giving back to all these female travelers the recognition and honor they deserve by researching and digging into the details of …

The Rhetoric Of Wandering And Travel Narratives In Isabelle Eberhardt's «Écrits Sur Le Sable», Amira Souames

SOROUD: The journal of Literacy Criticism

The eminently intimate call from the outside makes it possible to densify the relationship to the world on condition that it is in accordance with the affinities of the traveler. Thus, With Isabelle Eberhardt (1877-1904), her attachment to the place stems in particular from the fact that she will never return there. Sahara, chosen land of the wanderer, is a chosen landscape that she tries to live and describe in its endless variations. Although the departure is an act of postage, the meaning of the journey is acquired over the course of the journey, and we will question ourselves in …

A Foreign Look Of A Strange Country, Fatiha Bennani

SOROUD: The journal of Literacy Criticism

This article discusses the importance of travel in shaping personality and the role of intellectual curiosity in this process. It highlights the significant contributions of travelers throughout history, such as Ibn Battuta, Marco Polo, Jacques Cartier, and Hassan Al Wazzan (also known as Jean Leon Africanus). The article also brings to light female travel literature, focusing on Edith Wharton’s work “In Morocco”. The author points out that Wharton wrote this book with a pedagogical and touristic intention, aiming to provide a guide for those wishing to visit Morocco. Finally, she defines herself as a pioneer, discovering mysterious and magical places.

Natural Environment And Human Behavior In The Atouba Region: The Sidi Bettache Plateau As A Case Study, Rachida Nafaa

Bouhout

This article examines the relationship between the natural environment and human behavior in the Atouba region, using the Sidi Bettache Plateau as a case study. It analyzes the main physical characteristics of the area, including relief, geology, climate, rainfall, hydrographic networks, and soil conditions, and considers how these factors influence settlement, agricultural activity, land use, and adaptation strategies. The study relies on maps, climatic data, and field observations to show that human practices cannot be understood independently of environmental constraints. It highlights the importance of integrating physical geography and social behavior in the study of rural Moroccan spaces.

Preliminary Geomorphological Observations On The Telmest Area Downstream Of Wadi Tensift, Mostapha Wadrim

Bouhout

This article offers preliminary geomorphological observations on the Telmest area downstream of Wadi Tensift. It describes the location of the study area and analyzes the main morphological and structural units that shape the landscape, including coastal and inland formations, Jbel Kourati, Quaternary deposits, valleys, slopes, and contact zones between geological units. The study uses maps, sketches, and cross-sections to identify the distribution of landforms and to interpret the processes that contributed to their formation. It provides an initial framework for understanding the geomorphological organization of this part of western Morocco and its relation to regional relief and drainage patterns.

The Theory Of The Spatial Diffusion Of Innovations: An Analytical And Critical Reading, Al-Mokhtar Al-Akhal

Bouhout

This article provides an analytical and critical reading of the theory of the spatial diffusion of innovations as used in geography. It reviews the central concepts of diffusion, information, and innovation, and explains how new practices, ideas, or techniques spread through time, space, social relations, and communication networks. The article discusses major models of diffusion, including the role of carriers, distance, contact, barriers, neighborhood effects, and adoption processes. It also examines critical perspectives on the theory, especially those that stress the importance of economic, social, political, and developmental contexts in shaping the circulation of innovations.

The Development Of The City Of Mohammedia In The Twentieth Century, Kacem Joumady

Bouhout

This article studies the development of the city of Mohammedia during the twentieth century. It traces the rapid demographic growth of the city, the expansion of its urban fabric, and the effects of colonial planning, port activities, and industrialization on its spatial organization. The article examines population figures, the growth of residential districts, the role of the port, and the differentiation between planned European areas and other urban neighborhoods. By combining demographic, historical, and geographical data, the study shows how Mohammedia was transformed from a small settlement into an important urban and industrial center within Morocco.

De Astronomiā: A Comparison Of Kepler’S Epitome Astronomiae Copernicanae And Ancient Astronomical Literature, Jillian Lees Darcy

Classics Undergraduate Senior Theses

My thesis is part translation and part analysis. I chose to translate an early modern astronomical text written in Neo-Latin and analyze this text through ancient writing on astronomy and cosmology. I chose to translate Kepler’s Epitome Astronomiae Copernicanae because of the many ancient allusions he makes in the introduction. While this text is valued for its scientific content and contributions, but I was interested in Kepler’s literary strategies, specifically how he engages in authorial self-fashioning, and how classical strategies of knowledge construction are distorted or mirrored in their style and content.  After my translation, I will analyze Kepler’s literary …

Mainely Gay 50th Anniversary Tribute, Susan Henderson, Peter Prizer, Stan Fortuna

Mainely Gay (1978-1980)

A special 50th Anniversary Edition of Mainely Gay