designer, researcher, educator, activist
PHL DESIGN LAB: social sector design
LEARNING SESSION: workshop design and facilitation
BORDER STORIES: design innovation and citizenship
DEGREE SHOW: exhibition design
NHS INFORM FOOD: design research
GLASGOW AS SANCTUARY: activist design
SHIFTING RHYTHMS: community development
NGP VAN: ux/ui design and development
DOULA DESIGN: curriculum design
SEXUAL HEALTH VENDING MACHINE: feminist design
GLASGOW AS SANCTUARY
JANUARY 2018-MAY 2018
what if Glasgow's policies worked as direct action against immigration detention?
CONTEXT AND IDEA
imagining Glasgow as an open city to all
I became interested in the phenomenon of immigration removal centers in the UK, as I believed they showed an important but overlooked part of the system. In Scotland, Dungavel is the only IRC in the country, and there are many activist groups who are working to shut it down. I began to do some reading and also embed myself within these groups in order to understand not only the meta, theoretical legal reasons for IRCs but also the more grassroots activism that was happening in Scotland. I found four different levels that it was important to work on, the language, narrative, physical body, and economic. All of these levels had led to IRCs in the UK because they shaped how we view migrants.
Through sharing this framework with the activist movements, we together came up with the idea of Glasgow as a sanctuary city. Being from the US, I have had experience with the movement, and thought it would be a good way to bring my own experience to the context of Glasgow. I came up with a set of places where this could occur within the landscape of Glasgow and shared this with the activist groups that I was working with so they could use it to push Glasgow forward.
You can view my final report below: