The Distinguished Lecture Series at the Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering brings leading experts in the fields of human-centered design to the University of Washington to spark new ideas and innovative conversations. These events are free and are open to the public, as well as University of Washington faculty, students, and staff.
The Judith Ramey and Stephanie Rosenbaum Distinguished Lecture Series
Laura Forlano
Writer • Social Scientist • Design Researcher
Professor, Art + Design, Northeastern University
Monday, May 11, 2026
3:30 – 5 p.m.
Reception to follow
HUB, room 334
Designing Consequences: On Living Well with Machines
Who will live with the social consequences of your designs? And, who will live with the consequences of the consequences? In this talk, I will consider how we might live well with machines drawing on my own “disabled cyborg” life as well as nearly two decades of research in the field of design and related fields including critical disability studies, critical computing, critical creative practice, and critical pedagogy. I will illustrate—both humorously and very existentially—the many ways of interrogating the social consequences of design through responses that allow for relational, performative and visceral engagement with the nature of data and computation. Ultimately, this talk is a provocation about who gets to decide what it means to be human, and who we will become as a species.
Dr. Laura Forlano is Professor in the departments of Art + Design and Communication Studies in the College of Arts, Media, and Design and Senior Fellow at The Burnes Center for Social Change at Northeastern University.
Previous Distinguished Lectures
About the HCDE distinguished lecture series
The Judith Ramey and Stephanie Rosenbaum Distinguished Lecture Series in the Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering brings leading experts in the fields of human-centered design and sociotechnical systems to the University of Washington to spark new ideas and innovative conversations. These events are free and are open to the public, as well as University of Washington faculty, students, and staff. Thank you to donors Judy Ramey and Stephanie Rosenbaum for making these events possible.