Trudy WattAcademic Director for the Master of Science in Design + Innovation | Kay Vaughan Innovation Fellow

I am a designer, educator, and pragmatic optimist dedicated to advancing compassionate, design-driven collaboration in service of equitable well-being and a regenerative future. I build platforms, programs, and projects that bridge disciplines and center human and planetary flourishing.

I currently serve as a Kay Vaughan Innovation Fellow at the School of Human Ecology and academic director of the Master of Science in Design + Innovation (MD+I), where I am leading efforts to expand transdisciplinary, life-centered design in higher education.

Selected Publications

Watt, T., & Van Dyck, J. (2023). Transforming Tradition to Amplify Inclusive Learning in Design Studios. In Derek Jones, Naz Borekci, Violeta Clemente, James Corazzo, Nicole Lotz, Liv Merete Nielsen, Lesley-Ann Noel (Eds.), The 7th International Conference for Design Education Researchers, 29 November–1 December 2023, London, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.21606/drslxd.2024.063

Watt, T. (2023). Effective Interdisciplinarity is Like Alchemy. Proceedings of the 109th Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture Annual Meeting. https://doi.org/10.35483/ACSA.AM.109.64

Watt, T. (2022). Oblique Pedagogical Strategies: Improv and Speculative Realism in Support of Social Justice Design Education. Proceedings of Schools of Thought: Rethinking Architectural Pedagogy, Norman, Oklahoma, March 5-7, 2020. University of Oklahoma Libraries. https://doi.org/10.15763/11244/335075

See Also

• Lectures
  • Watt, T. (2021). Designing Action with Applied Compassion. Featured speaker at Social Good Morning hosted by Mark Fairbanks, Lubar Entrepreneurship Center, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
  • Watt, T., Cosentino, I., & Rasmussen, S. (2021). Architecture and Health. Lecture at World Affairs Seminar, University Scholars Honors Program, Milwaukee School of Engineering.