Esther KangAssistant Professor of Design Studiesshe/her/hers

My scholarship aims to outline the shifting position of design in community development work in the era of big tech and sustainability transitions. This includes understanding the politics, ethics, and practices of developing systems of accountability in local governance and urban development projects. This work engages with subdomains of design that sprang from histories of manufacturing in the U.S. Through an interdisciplinary approach, my research sits at the intersection of design studies, urban humanities, and science and technology studies. Currently, I am focusing on two projects: the effect of an innovation policy (Right to Repair Act) on the agriculture industry and the impact of urban development projects in east Wisconsin.

This body of work builds upon 12+ years of practice as an independent civic design researcher and strategist. In this capacity, I integrated design methods to cross-disciplinary projects that aimed to address inequities that were results of social, environmental, and technological issues. My work as a practitioner took place at the city, state, congressional, and federal levels and fundamentally informs my scholarship.

Selected Publications

Kang, E. Y. (2024). Legible for Whom? Decentering the Dichotomy of Center and Periphery. Diseña, (25), Essay 1. https://doi.org/10.7764/disena.25.Essay.1

Kang, E. Y., & Fox, S. E. (2022). Stories from the Frontline: Recuperating Essential Worker Accounts of AI Integration. DIS ’22: Proceedings of the 2022 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference, 58-70. https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/3532106.3533564 (Best Paper Honorable Mention)

Kang, E. Y. (Forthcoming fall 2025). The Politics of Place-based Design: An Inquiry into a Worldbuilding Practice. In Urban Humanities 2: An (Un)Volume on Place, Pedagogy, and Practice.

For a full list of publications, see Kang’s CV.

See Also

• Teaching Resource
  • (Un)packing Innovation: Histories of Social Design and Civic Design in Practice. Developed through the Chicago Designs Workshop and Residency. Funded by the Terra Foundation. https://www.designchicago.org/chicago-designs-participants-1