Guest Lecture Video: Dori Tunstall
“Diversity is not enough. Inclusion is not enough. Unless you are really willing and able to change the power structure.”
Last month, MFA Products of Design was proud to host design anthropologist and Dean of the Faculty of Design at OCAD University, Dori Tunstall. Dori spoke to us about decolonizing design and shifting power in academia.
Starting off her talk, Dori did a land acknowledgment of Toronto stating “We acknowledge the ancestral and traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Haudenosaunee, the Anishinabe and the Huron-Wendat, who are its original owners and custodians.“ In this talk called Decolonizing Design: When Diversity and Inclusion are Not Enough, Dori spoke to us about the tokenization of diversity and inclusion stating “Getting invited as (or Inviting) diverse peoples is ineffective if it does not change the actual power structure of the institution or firm.”
Dori shared her thoughts of changing the standards of inclusion regarding her hiring practices at OCAD and including individuals who have been excluded from traditional academic roles. As she thoughtfully explained, “The only way in which you understand if your system of diversity, inclusion, and decolonization is working is that if your people who are at the entry level feel like there’s real opportunities for growth. If the people who are at the middle level feel like they have influence. And if the person or persons at the top level have real power.” She adds, “Think about how you enable diversity to happen, then you keep replicating that diversity in threes until the community says, ‘You know what I can bring my whole self into this institution.’ And they will tell you when you’ve reached critical mass.”
Elizabeth (Dori) Tunstall is a design anthropologist, public intellectual, and design advocate who works at the intersections of critical theory, culture, and design. She is Dean of the Faculty of Design at OCAD University and the first black Dean of a Faculty of Design anywhere. Tunstall holds a PhD and an MA in Anthropology from Stanford University and a BA in Anthropology from Bryn Mawr College. At OCAD, Dr. Tunstall plays a vital role in steering aspects of the academic and administrative agendas within the Faculty of Design, as well as related research, outreach, fundraising and operational activities. As the university has initiated the challenge of decolonizing its institution, Dori advocates and communicates how Respectful Design serves the appropriate design ethos for this process.