UCDA 2025 Design Education Summit

May 19-21, 2025

The UCDA Design Education Summit: Mindful is an annual national academic summit designed for design educators and graduate students who are seeking to engage in presenting academic research, pedagogy, and creative projects through peer review, discourse, and presentation.

You are invited to join us as we engage in an exchange of ideas, experiences, and academic discourse through presentations, panels, workshops, and posters that explore the topic of Mindful Design at the 20th Annual UCDA Design Education Summit in Charlotte, North Carolina May 19-21.

The summit provides an exciting and enriching experience for all attendees to gather as a national academic community. Participants have the opportunity to showcase their research and projects through peer-reviewed presentations and posters, workshops, panels, and keynote presentations. Design educators and graduate student who choose not to submit for presentation yet would like the opportunity to benefit and learn from academic work presented by their peers are encouraged to attend.

Mindful Design

As human beings, we are constantly learning and unlearning how the world works as it changes and evolves. We try to anticipate what changes might come, and how our roles and responses as designers and educators may need to shift and evolve in response to these changes. One approach to managing and navigating our world's fast-paced changes in technology and society is by applying the principles of mindfulness in our pedagogical and design research practices. The practice of mindfulness is about paying attention to the present moment with active attention, openness, curiosity, flexibility, focus, and acceptance. This can manifest in approaching our work as designers and educators in various ways—including through deeper explorations and questions, creative process, empathy, and approaching problems from different angles.

We invite you to explore and share how mindfulness plays a part in your own pedagogical and design research practices. We will engage in an exchange of ideas, experiences, and academic discourse through presentations, panels, workshops, and posters that explore the topic of Mindful Design at the 20th Annual UCDA Design Education Summit in Charlotte, North Carolina May 19-21.

Join us by presenting your work, learning from the work of others, and benefiting from networking and the exchange of ideas with like-minded design educators.

We invite all design faculty and graduate students to attend. Presenting work is not a requirement for attendance. This is a great opportunity to be inspired and informed by what members of your academic community are working on, engage in discourse, and share your own ideas and experiences. 

We look forward to seeing you there.

Call for Abstracts - NOW OPEN

There are four (4) formats: Presentation, Panel, Poster, and Workshop.

Call For Abstracts Information & Specifications

Call for Abstracts Entry Form

Call for Abstracts Opening Soon. 

Event Registration

Last day to register for the event online is Thursday, May 15. After this date, registration must be made on-site at the event. Registration Opening Soon. 

*If you are a Student but not a UCDA member, to receive the best rate and get the benefits of a 12-month UCDA membership, it is recommended that you join UCDA first, at the Student Rate of $50, then register for the event. 

NOT A MEMBER YET? JOIN NOW FOR DISCOUNTED REGISTRATION Membership Application

A confirmation will be sent to you after registration is received and processed. Occasionally conferences fill before the registration cut-off date, so please register early.

Registration Cancellations
See UCDA Cancellation Policies

Event Location

University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, North Carolina.
More campus details and map coming soon. 

Transportation & Lodging

Coming Soon

Event Schedule & Website 

Preliminary Schedule. Subject to change. Attendees will receive a final schedule and program. All Times are EST.

Keynote Speakers

Heather Snyder Quinn is an Assistant Professor of Design at DePaul University, Jarvis College of Computing and Digital Media, School of Design. Quinn is a design futurist, creative director, and thought leader with 25 years of experience working with Fortune 500 companies, communities, and institutions across the globe. As a female leader in tech, she seeks to elevate lesser-known voices and diversify the field and the products and experiences we create as designers. She specializes in interdisciplinary collaboration and imagining the innovative potential and ethical implications of emerging technologies—including AI and the metaverse. Recent engagements and recognition include NASA, The World Economic Forum, MIT Press, Yale Law School, The Washington Post, and Hyperallergic. Quinn has earned numerous accoloades and recogition for her work including 2022 Wicklander Fellow in Ethics, a Society of Typographic Arts (STA 100) Design Award on three occasions for her augmented reality app, and a 2022 Excellence in Teaching Award from DePaul University, Jarvis College of Computing and Digital Media, among other awards and grants. 

https://heathersnyderquinn.com/

Peer Review Panel

Coming Soon

Student Poster Call For Entries - Open

Information and Specifications
Student Poster Design Initiative Submission Form 

SPONSORS

In-Kind Button Sponsor: 
Busy Beaver Button Co. 

Interested in becoming a sponsor? Contact the UCDA Home Office at 615-459-4559 or susan@ucda.com.

PROGRAM CHAIRS