“This is the first place where I've really been able to express myself as a Black architect” 2024 Student
“The experience was transformative. The tools and perspectives I gained are already influencing how I think about my education, my work, and my responsibilities as a designer.” Dorothy Philip (2025) University of Virginia
“It was truly an unforgettable experience.”
Yanjie Zhang (2024), University of Pennsylvania
Yanjie Zhang (2024), University of Pennsylvania
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Spots are first come first serve
Standard Membership
+ Send one faculty member and up to five students to the Design Futures Forum at University of Detroit Mercy.
Includes entry to the Forum for faculty and students, on-campus housing for the students and all food except dinners. Travel and other
expenses are not included.
Faculty Plus Membership
Exclusive to returning universities
+ Send two faculty members and up to five students to the Design Futures Forum at University of Detroit Mercy.
+ Faculty participate in convenings and trainings throughout the year to build capacity, access the resource library, and develop relationships with other faculty.
Includes entry to the Forum for faculty and students, on-campus housing for the students and all food except dinners. Travel and other expenses are not included.
Individual Registration
+ Entry for one student to the Design Futures Forum at University of Detroit Mercy
+ Requires short application process.
Includes entry to the Forum, on-campus housing and all food except dinners. Travel and other expenses are not included.
Early Bird Fee: $6,300*
Standard Fee: $6,600
Add on: +1 student to cohort: $1,100/student**
*Payment due by 12/31/25
** For returning universities only. Up to 2 additional students maximum.
Early Bird Fee: $8,400*
Standard Fee: $8,800
Add on: +1 student to cohort: $1,100/student**
*Payment due by 12/31/25
** Up to 2 additional students maximum.
Fee: $1,400
Inspired by Octavia Butler’s work, this session invited designers into an immersion on how to navigate compounding crises with collective action and imagination as the medicine for overwhelm and isolation.
> Data for Civic Action: Accessible Tech Tools for Spatial Justice & Community Design.
Hands-on and pragmatic, this session explored how spatial data can expose injustice—and fuel community power. Desingers learned foundational GIS skills while practicing how tell stories with data that shift power.
> Toppling Statues: Memorials, Monuments and Designing a New Commemorative Landscape.
Designers unpacked the responsibility they hold to remagine memorials and monuments as a tool for uplifing stories that have been buried in collective memory. Through case studies, designers learned innovative approaches in commemorative landscape design that center co-creation, truth-telling and healing.
“The Forum wasn’t just another design workshop. It was the space we often wish existed in our institutions [...] where collective care is prioritized over competition and where radical imagination isn’t optional, but essential.” S M Kaikobad (2025), MIT
I feel so inspired about what my career as a designer looks like... I needed this. I was not expecting this.” Michael Scarboro (2024) Washington University in St. Louis
“One of my close friends went to the 2024 Forum and called it the most transformative thing he did while in college, which encouraged me to apply. I have to agree with him.” Ruth Player (2025), University of Virginia