Merit-Based

Luiza Souza Corrêa
MFA Design Research and Development, 2022

Abstract:
Although the debate on higher education access is an old acquaintance, this demand has increased with Operation Varsity Blues, the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, and the pandemic COVID-19. Diversity issues in public and private spaces in the United States led me to ask: why are there few African American Women in their first year at the Ohio State University?

"Merit-based" is an exploration of individual narratives and school district funding. Inspired in the visual artists Aminah Brenda Robinson, Faith Ringgold, and Chief Baba Shongo Obadina, this college application quilt is part of a Co-Design research on African American Women College application process.

This research invites African American Women to create their ideal college application journey using participatory methods and their lived experience as argument. The results of this study are expected to examine how people's realities impact individual capabilities and how they can be accounted for and folded into the Design of the University application process. This project seeks to prototype an alternative application apparatus to facilitate their application process.

Luiza Souza Corrêa is an MFA candidate in the Design Research and Development (DRD) program from the Department of Design, at Ohio State University. She is a proud Carioca (born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil) with a passion for future design opportunities in policymaking and governance. Her interest lies in designing new journeys and experiences to empower people. Before coming to OSU, she worked as a Product Owner for national and international companies and in Public Relations. She has made extensive contributions to the house of representatives on designing diversity policies. Her academic interest lies in examining how Design and public policies can work together on contributing to equality in educational settings.

More of Luiza's work can be found in here

Filters: 2022, Graduate Studies, Design Research and Development, MFA Thesis